Wondering if I went mad? Thank God, I am not. :)
Two days back I got an invitation to a face book group. The group named as " 17th SAARC Summit in ADDU".
I felt like laughing. SAARC Summit? In Addu? Come on!! Then I thought, Hey! this is a good idea. Indeed its marvelous. It'd be nice if such a huge gathering of international level takes place in Addu.
That can make the 17th SAARC a very different one.
The first summit with a lady secretary general
The 2nd time a SAARC summit takes place outside the capital city. So far it happened only once, in Bangalore India.
With a new government and a new regime and a new president, it can prove another new one that the Maldives experienced. That could be made a beginning of holding important international summits and meetings outside the capital Male'. The old way of ONLY Male' can be changed.
That's was my thinking, but this is also another thinking. "Rafiu, You think this is going to happen? It wont. Never, its just a campaign for the upcoming election." That too was an idea.
So I thought, any way, it is a good idea that one atoll took the initiative, and move the summit to the islands than the summit held in Male' always. For me, I thought, this could be a good beginning. Yes, as someone who was born and brought up outside Male' I too wish that such events take place in the different islands of Maldives. Yet, if it never happens, I will not feel ashamed for having to say that it is something good to be done, because regardless of it happens or not, I wish to the islands outside Male' also been the venue for important events.
Photos:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addu_Atoll
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_Association_for_Regional_Cooperation