H. E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that opened at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre in Colombo today.

It is the first time in the history of SAARC that the Secretary-General of SAARC is invited to attend the CHOGM.

The Summit was preceded by preparatory meetings of Foreign Ministers from 13 to 14 November 2013 at Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre.  Five Member States of SAARC, namely Bangladesh, India, The Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are Members of Commonwealth.

The Summit concludes on 18 November 2013.