Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Wednesday said the SAARC Business Travellers’ card that will ensure seamless movement of businessmen within the South Asian region will be launched by May.

“The SAARC Business Travellers’ Card, an initiative designed to enable easier movement of South Asian businessmen to India, will be launched within the next two months,” he said while addressing the 42nd SAARC Standing Committee Meeting in Pokhara, Nepal.

In an official statement issued here, Jaishankar highlighted the need for greater connectivity within the SAARC region.

He said that the speed of regional connectivity has to be “hastened” particularly in those areas that are central to the SAARC developmental agenda.

“In this context, I urge that we sign, at an early date, the SAARC Motor Vehicles Agreement and SAARC Railways Agreement. Finalisation and implementation of these agreements will realise a long standing dream of seamless movement of passengers and cargo through the entire region,” he said.

He added that India was focussing on projects in areas such as rail and road building, power generation and transmission, waterway usage and shipping through regional, sub-regional, trilateral and bilateral arrangements.

Jaishankar also hoped that the much-touted SAARC Satellite may be launched by the end of the year, which is aimed at supporting applications in the area of health, education, disaster response, weather forecasting and communications.

He said the SAARC Knowledge Network would provide a unified high speed network backbone for knowledge related institutions in the region.

“This will bring together all stakeholders – scientists, researchers and students – to work closely for faster development,” he added.

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