Indian media today reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to set up a SAARC Bank for the South Asian region to achieve regional economic goals.

India will propose a SAARC Development Bank at the regional grouping's ministerial council in Bhutan which is starting on Thursday,

If agreed by the partner countries, the bank would be the first for the eight-nation regional grouping that will provide countries with access to capital to finance infrastructure for trade facilitation and development.

Apart from the political challenges that Modi will have to manage with Pakistan on terrorism and the Sri Lankan issue fuelled by Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu, Modi will have to focus on South Asia’s integration of economies so that SAARC can be the powerhouse of the world.

In an earlier encounter, Modi told that his aim is to make SAARC the powerhouse of the future world and that him and all of India will be dedicated in their service to contribute towards this objective.

Sri Lankan Economists had told Sri Lankan media that the new India Prime Minister was well known for accepting challenges where political and socio-economic matters are concerned. “If he can achieve what he wants with this move, this will be a definite game changer in shaping up the world,” they added.

In his SAARC initiative, the Indian Prime Minister disclosed that there are other focus areas that he will be looking forward to implement. SAARC Food Bank, Dealing with construction permits, Trading across borders, Protecting investors, SAARC – Anti-Terrorism Unit, SAARC – Disaster Management Centre, SAARC – Poverty fund, SAARC – Energy Market,  were a few among them.