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Pakistan Finance Meeting Postponed

A meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) finance ministers scheduled for April 14-15 in Islamabad, Pakistan, has been postponed. Quoting a source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, newspapers reported Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram expressed his inability to attend the meeting due to Tamil Nadu Assembly polls on May 8.

The Saarc finance ministers` meeting in Islamabad on April 14-15 was supposed to finalize the modalities and mechanism for spending and contributing to different funds, including the South Asia Development Fund (SADF), Saarc Development Fund (SDF) and Saarc Poverty Alleviation Fund.

Elections are taking place in India`s five southern and eastern states - Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry, West Bengal and Assam. The official, on condition of anonymity, told the newspaper that the Indian finance minister, who hails from Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu, will be busy with election campaigns.