NEW DELHI. May 4 A three-day summit of South Asian leaders ended here today with a call for greater' economic cooperation among the seven nations which account for .one-fifth of the world's population. report AFP. BSS.

The members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). in a Joinl declaration, condemned terrorism and called for an international convention eliminating nuclear weapons and prohibiting their use.

The leaders of Bangladesh. Bhutan. India, the Maldives, Nepal. Pakistan and Sri Lanka also urged developed nations to refrain from erecting trade barriers through the use Of social or environmental issues.

Tlte leaders In the "Delhi Declaration outlined the future plan lb pul the much-talked ai»oni South Asian 11 r» I ci> 11 i i. । I Trading

Arrangement (SAPTA) in operation by the end of this year.

The heads of slate or government noted with satisfaction the progress made on the SAPTA following the decision on the issue taken in the seventh summit in Dhaka in April. . 1993 and directed that all necessary steps including the ratification by member states be completed by the qnd of this year.

The Delhi declaration also noted with satisfaction the progress made by the SAARC during its nearly a decade of existence and gave a future course o( action to further strengthen ihe cooperation among the membqr countries.

The leaders endorsed the' proposal of the Council of Ministers to convene a commemorative session marking Ihe first decade of the SAARC on the theme "SAARC-Vision of the Second Decide io identify

, the areas on which the SAARC should focus In its second decade. ‘

The declaration contained the resolve of the leaders to address such issues like the eradication of poverty in South Asia, women in development, integrated programme of action. promotional activities for . the children, youth and disabled. shelter, literacy and environment and outlined SAARC activities In these areas.

The declaration highlighted the problem of poverty in the region and reiterated the lead ers commitment to eradicating this curse in the South Asia preferably by the year 2002.

It also touched upon problems like terrorism. drug trafficking. South Asian development fund, people-to-people contact, and science and technology. and reiterated SAARC positions on these matters.with a view to increasing cooperation to deal with the menaces and promoting developmental activities.

The declaration also called for special treatment to the least developed countries in the matters of global and regional economic interactions.

Indian Prime Minister P V Naraslmha Rao. in his concluding remarks, said poverty eradication was the greatest challenge facing the seven ' countries, which have a combined population of more, than 1.2 billion people.

"Our primary focus at yils Summit has been on poverty eradication and economic cooperation,'-' he said.

The eighth SAARC summit opened here on Tuesday with heads of state and government of all seven member nations in attendance.

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga left for home on Wednesday, however, and did not attend the closing ceremony or a one-day retreat In a northern Indian hill resort.

The Sri Lankan leader cut short her visit following the upsurge in fighting on the island between government troops and Tamil separatist guerrillas.