The draft of summit declaration is almost readied by the Nepali side and the Foreign Ministry is set to hand it over to the Saarc Secretariat by Friday. The Secretariat will circulate the draft to member states for their comment and adjustment, officials said.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Mahendra Bahadur Pandey has already shared the substantive content of the proposed declaration to his counterparts during the meeting of Saarc Council of Ministers on the sideline of the 69th UN General Assembly in New York. The text of the proposed draft is heavy as Nepal attempts to induct all socio-economic issues like energy, connectivity, trade, health, education and implementation of past accords and understanding, said an official who attended the New York meeting. The draft is in the final stage and we are making commendable progress in infrastructure side too, said Khaganath Adhikari, Foreign Ministry spokes-person.

Similarly, officials said construction of rooms in City Hall, the venue of the summit, is to be completed within 10 days and its interior will be ready within 15 days. Chief Secretary Leelamani Poudyal, who is directly monitoring and overseeing the infrastructure-related tasks, however, said arranging bulletproof vehicles for the heads of state and government is yet to be ascertained. “Other infrastructure-related preparations like road, electricity, solar electrification, maintenance of the City Hall and Gallery Hall inside Singha Durbar are almost in the final stage.

Hotel booking for VIPs and other delegates, including the nine Observers nations, is also almost done. Similarly, logistic and infrastructure-related preparations in Lumbini and Janakpur are also getting momentum, Poudyal said.

Likewise, several meetings pending since 2011 are now on track and member states who were responsible to convene them are holding at marathon pace, officials concerned said.

However, hiring bullet proof vehicles from India and purchasing other more than two dozen medium-range vehicles through competitive bidding process are major hiccups in the summit preparations.

On security front, the Home Ministry is reviewing security-related details almost thrice in a week. All security agencies will be involved for security and high-end technology will be used a Home Ministry official said. Meanwhile, keeping in view the major diplomatic event, the government is sending six proposed ambassadors to their destinations only after the summit is held. Similarly, the Foreign Ministry has also formed a panel of its former employees for summit preparations.