Saturday, May 14 2005 15:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: India has expressed its readiness to attend the twice-postponed 13th SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) Summit in November this year.

This was conveyed by External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh to his Bangladesh counterpart Morshed Khan during a telephonic conversation last night (May 13, 2005), official sources said in New Delhi today (May 14, 2005).

Host Bangladesh had proposed to hold the summit in September or November 12-13.

Dhaka will now convey the proposed dates to current Chairman Pakistan and other countries of the seven-nation regional grouping.

The summit, earlier scheduled to be held in February, was cancelled after India refused to attend citing security situation in Bangladesh and royal takeover in Nepal.

Earlier in January, it was cancelled in view of the tsunami tragedy of December 26, which devastated several parts of India, Sri Lanka and Maldives.