Delivering the vote of thanks at the closing session of the Sixteenth SAARC Summit, President Mohamed Nasheed has said if all SAARC countries worked together, they could turn the many challenges they face to opportunities for progress and prosperity.

Speaking on increasing cooperation between member countries, President Nasheed said, “I am heartened by the optimism demonstrated by India and Pakistan to compartmentalize their differences and give SAARC a new push for the benefit of the people of the region.”

Reflecting on the first SAARC Summit he attended, President Nasheed said he saw the strong sense of togetherness and solidarity between the leaders of the region.

He said with enormous economic, technological and human potential in South Asia, it can improve the lives of its people, face-down hunger, intolerance, violence, poverty and strife.

The President further said the region has all the necessary “ingredients…to build better and fairer societies, to consolidate and strengthen our democracies, to expand our economies while protecting our natural environment and to play an increasingly assertive role in important global decisions that affect us.”

However, he noted the importance of compartmentalizing the differences between the countries, and the vision and determination of leaders to work together towards these common goals.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the regional association that was formed in 1985 in Bangladesh with the aim of eradicating poverty and improving the living standard of 1.5 billion people of the region through mutual cooperation.

President Nasheed said this was the time “to begin a meaningful and self-critical process of appraisal” so that SAARC can be equipped to complete its tasks and deliver its promises.

At the concluding session of 16th SAARC Summit held from 28 to 29 April in Thimphu, SAARC foreign ministers signed agreements of trade in services and environmental cooperation. SAARC leaders also adopted the Declaration of the Sixteenth SAARC Summit.

It was also announced that Seventeenth SAARC Summit will he held in Male’ next year.

Earlier in the day, the President Nasheed joined the other seven SAARC leaders for the Summit Retreat, held in Bhutan House.