New Delhi: Officials of seven South Asian nations have cleared the way for Iran's admission as an observer to their regional grouping, the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), said official in New Delhi.
The proposal now awaits the approval of SAARC's foreign ministers and top leaders, who are to meet in New Delhi this week, Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said.
Iran, which applied for the observer status, would be able to attend SAARC meetings starting next year without voting rights, he said on Saturday.
The forum is expected to provide Iran a chance to forge closer economic ties with the group's members, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.
SAARC was set up in 1985 to promote economic cooperation, but progress has been slow because of rivalry between India and Pakistan.
The South Asian region is home to a fifth of the world's population and has some of the world's poorest people.
The group already has admitted China, Japan, South Korea, the United States and the European Union as observers. They will be attending the opening and closing sessions of the New Delhi summit on April 3-4 and other meetings in agreed areas of cooperation.
Afghanistan is to join the regional grouping as its eighth member this week.
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