New Delhi  — Esala Ruwan Weerakoon, the Secretary-General of the SAARC is undertaking a week-long visit to India from Sunday to explore ways to deepen regional cooperation including in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

The Secretary-General of SAARC has met External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S. Jaishankar during his week-long visit to India on Tuesday.

The visit has been initiated from Sunday to explore the means to strengthen regional cooperation including COVID-19 management.

Posting on Twitter, Dr. Jaishankar stated, nice to welcome back E. R. Weerakoon, the 14th SAARC Secretary-General.

Earlier, Union Minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh met Esala Ruwan Weerakoon. In a tweet, MEA Spokesman Arindam Bagchi said, Ranjan received Weerakoon, who is on his customary introductory visit to India.

People familiar with the agenda of Weerakoon’s visit said boosting regional cooperation under the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), including in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, will figure in his talks with Indian officials.

The SAARC is a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The SAARC leaders, under India’s initiative, held a virtual meeting in March last year to work on a common strategy to effectively deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad however  India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to “prevailing circumstances on that year”.