KATHMANDU: Indian Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar has remarked that cross-border terrorism remains one of the main challenges of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region.

Jaishankar tweeted after the virtual SAARC foreign ministers’ meeting, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, that the issue needs to overcome to make the SAARC more meaningful.

“Cross-border terrorism, blocking connectivity and obstructing trade are three key challenges that SAARC must overcome. Only then will we see enduring peace, prosperity and security in our South Asia region,” he said.

The SAARC process got stalled when India called for “diplomatic isolation” of Pakistan in 2016, after the terrorist attack on a military camp in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, that killed 19 soldiers. Subsequently, India boycotted the 2016 SAARC Summit, which was to be hosted by Pakistan.