The 14th SAARC Summit held in the Indian capital of New Delhi Wednesday concluded adopting a 30-point declaration, which includes formation of a modality to fight against terrorism in the South Asian region.
Participated by the heads of government and states of eight member countries and five observers – USA, China, European Union, Japan and South Korea - the two-day summit extensively discussed the pertaining issues including poverty, trade and terrorism.
In his concluding remark, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said the Delhi Declaration adopted by the SAARC summit gave a wider mandate to promote peace and development in the region through greater connectivity – in trade, in the movement of people and through the flow of ideas.
“We must resolve our differences, and we must enhance regional cooperation. We must also win the war against all forms of extremism and intolerance in our region,” Singh said, describing the signing of the declaration as “comprehensive and forward-looking”.
The Declaration includes decisions to establish SAARC Development Fund; South Asian University; SAARC Food Bank and set up the SAARC Arbitration Council. The summit also decided to designate the year 2008 as the ‘SAARC Year of Good Governance’.
“The cooperation and accommodation that have characterised our deliberations and negotiations show that our countries are ready for a transformation of SAARC into an effective instrument of regional cooperation,” the Indian Prime Minister said.
The 15th SAARC summit will be held in Maldives.
|
Set as homepage 
|
Add to favorites 
|
