By Iftikhar Gilani

NEW DELHI: South Asian nations pledged here on Thursday to empower their people and civil society through transparency, accountability, and the right to information, which they hoped would lead to better governance.
At the second meeting of the Social Development Ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), these nations, however, resisted India’s idea to copy its “landmark” Right to Information Act (RTI) for implementation in the region.
Shahid Malik, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India, said his country already had the Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 to ensure transparency in the functioning of local self-government.

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