15 June 2018
The ‘First China-South Asia Cooperation Forum’ (CSACF) in Yunnan Province. It was also attended by the Indian Consul-General in Guangzhou, Sailas Thangal. According to the newspaper, “Over 400 ministers, senior officials, delegates and media representatives from all SAARC member-states except Bhutan attended the meeting at Fuxian Lake Hilton. Speakers from seven of the eight SAARC countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka — plus Myanmar and Vietnam from South-East Asia spoke eloquently, lauding Beijing’s initiative to launch the CSACF to bring South Asia and China together on one platform.”
Other parallel events included the 25th China Kunming Import & Export Fair at the Dianchi International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Kunming, the opening ceremony of the China-South Asia Poverty Reduction Exhibition, China-South Asia High-Level Round-table Meeting for Business Cooperation, China-South Asia Local Government Leaders’ Dialogue, and a seminar on Financial Cooperation Development Strategy.
