EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SOUTH ASIA PARTNERSHIP- PAKISTAN VISITS SOUTH ASIA PARTNERSHIP SRI LANKA

Mr. Mohammad Tahseen, Executive Director  south Asia Partnership-Pakistan visited Sri Lanka on December 19, 2015 and exchanged views with Chairman, Board of Governors of South Asia Partnership Sri Lanka (SAPSIRI) on matters pertaining to the future of SAP-I.

Mr. Tahseen also visied SAPSIRI  Head Office in Colombo on 21<sup>st</sup> November 2015 to talk about the mutual interests of the SAP Family.

Executive  Director SAPSIRI emphasized the need to prepare a South Asian regional project in respect of the requisite resilience strategies to ill effects of the on-going climate change with the participation of the South Asian countries to offer the project for funding agencies/countries. SAP-I is to play the leading lobbying role with the country SAPs where necessary.

The two Executive Directors agreed that the whole South Asia region with a population over 1.7 billion has already become a  ‘hot-spot’ of climate change with floods, drought, earth slips/quakes, and cyclones and resilience action to them be quickened and b sure-footed.

South Asia and the Indian Ocean is important to the rich countries not in terms of climate change only. It is important to the rich nations in terms of trade, comers, geopolitics and ocean and overland transport as well. Mr. Tahseen pointed out that SAP-I has to be a new SAP-I able to play a pivotal role as a lobbyist for the SAP family.

Dr. M.U.A. Tennakoon agreed to present a concept paper on regional resilience to climate change. This he will be circulated  among the SAP family soon seeking their comments for further improvement of it.