The Prime Minister said "in my capacity as Chairman of Saarc and on behalf of the leaders of Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, I wish to convey our deep sense of shock and sorrow on the loss of precious lives and damage to the property caused to several South Asian and South East Asian States by the recent earthquake and tsunami.
He said the Saarc member states wish to affirm their complete solidarity and sympathy with the hundreds of thousands people who had been affected by that horrific natural calamity.
He said among the Saarc states India, Sri Lanka and Maldives had also been severely affected by the Tsunami disaster. " We fully sympathise with the governments and peoples sisterly SAARC states affected by the calamity and wish to convey our readiness to assist in any manner required to alleviate the humanitarian consequences of this catastrophe."
Prime Minister said "we have decided to postpone the holding of the 13th SAARC Summit to enable the Governments of member states to pay undivided attention to relief and reconstruction efforts."
He expressed confidence the SAARC member states would at the forthcoming Summit in Dhaka give priority consideration to elaborating such collaborate arrangements.