Kathmandu, 15 March : In a bid to chalk out common strategy in South Asia to battle the COVID-19, a video conference among the leaders of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) took  place this evening. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is also the present chair of SAARC, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan PM Dr. Lotay Tshering, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Maldives President Ibrahim Solih, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and  State  Minister for Health of Pakistan Zafar Mirza participated in the video conference. Addressing the conference,  Oli thanked Indian PM Modi for taking  timely initiative. He informed several measures taken by Nepal and said that he is personally overseeing the national efforts  against COVID-19. He said, " Our collective wisdom and efforts will help us devise a sound and robust strategy for the SAARC region as we fight the COVID-19 pandemic." People's News Monitoring Service