Dr. Paras Kharel, Executive Director, SAWTEE, attended the 27th Sustainable Development Conference in Islamabad, organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan, 4-7 December 2024. He spoke on regional cooperation potential and on public debt. He pointed out that recent developments in the region -- the emphatic public statements in support of SAARC coming from the new government in Bangladesh, the Indian foreign minister’s visit to Islamabad to attend the Shangai Cooperation Organization meet, and the Sino-Indian border deal -- could augur well for the prospect of reviving SAARC. He said SAARC Agriculture Centre is a natural body to find a regional approach to tackling the crossborder spillovers of crop residue burning.