The 14th Saarc summit began in New Delhi yesterday with a call for tangible measures to deliver on the existing trade agreements, combat terrorism and alleviate poverty so the grouping graduate to an 'action-oriented' body.

The South Asian leaders felt the expansion of Saarc with Afghanistan as the new entrant and the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and the European Union as observers demonstrates growing economic and strategic importance of South Asia to the world. They believe it all would give the regional body the much-needed

stimulus to press forward.

The observers stressed that alongside more connectivity within the region, South Asia should go for broader link-ups with the other regions.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day conference, the South Asian leaders however lamented that after all these years Saarc has yet to make a breakthrough while economic emancipation still eludes the region of 1.5 billion people.

A longing for bold and result-oriented programmes was the overall tone of their addresses. Incisive observations on terrorism and vows to combat the menace too ran through the deliberations.

The Delhi Declaration, to be adopted at the end of the summit this afternoon, is expected to contain a bold counter-terror collaborative programme.

Poverty alleviation was among the thrusts and is likely to be reflected in the establishment of Saarc Development Fund (SDF) and a food bank.

The eight leaders stressed the need for connectivity of resources, rail and roadways, and welcomed the decision to set up a South Asian University to facilitate the sharing of ideas and information between the countries.

Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, the outgoing Saarc chairman, said, "Larger and better resourced among us, have a greater responsibility to extend support to those lower down the scale of development."

In his inaugural address, India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that the largest Saarc nation would provide zero-duty access to the least-developed Saarc countries by the year's end and would reduce its negative list of goods. And it all would be done as part of a new vision of the regional grouping, he added.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, meanwhile, asked for a single currency to improve trade without barriers as he felt it is time for the Saarc to be more unified.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said an effective Saarc requires a resolution of disputes and differences to ensure security and to close the 'trust deficit' that he said "hampered meaningful cooperation in the region."

Fakhruddin said, "To optimise the potential of Safta, we must pursue trade-facilitation measures and address the non-tariff barriers."

"The economies of South Asia are varied and diverse. We should, therefore, make the best use of each others' complementarities," he said, adding that the larger nations must come forward to help the smallerones.

He called for 'redoubled efforts' to ensure the Saarc Development Goals are attained and hoped that the Saarc Development Fund operations would get going soon.

Fakhruddin, at his first major international summit, urged the organisation to address the root causes that lead to violent actions, and said, "We must make bold efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations."

He said all South Asian leaders are committed to a democratic system where, "the state and its vital basic institutions would ensure a levelplaying field for all and uphold the rule of law and good governance".

The chief adviser also asked his fellow leaders to ensure that the South Asian University is beneficial to all member states and is participatory, while also calling for a 'uniform fee' for all Saarc country tourists at heritage sites.

The head of the Bangladeshi government also offered to host a Saarc Youth Camp in 2007 and urged a more elaborate Saarc scholarship programme in the ICT and BioSciences.

Manmohan Singh said Saarc must now break with the past. "South Asia has flourished most when connected to itself and the rest of the world," he said adding, "As an immediate step, I propose that we link all our capitals through direct flights."

He said, "In another step, India is announcing a unilateral liberalisation of visas for students, teachers, professors, journalists and patients from Saarc. Let us aim to double the intraSaarc flow of tourists in the next five years."

On trade, Singh said his country is ready to accept asymmetrical responsibilities, opening its markets to its South Asian neighbours without insisting on reciprocity. The regional free trade agreement can be partofan "an ongoing process of building an open and integrated market from the Himalayas to the Pacific", he noted.

"I am happy to announce today that we (India) will allow zero-duty access to India before the end of this year to our South Asian neighbours who are LDCs and further reduce the sensitive list in respect of these countries," he said.

Observing that South Asia is now or will soon be short of energy, the Indian premier proposed an "energy exchange with energy markets that cover the whole region" by harmonising systems and grid structures.

He said the Saarc needs to move from a declaratory to an implementation phase and completion of tools for Saarc's integration is crucial, such as the start of Saarc Development Fund operations.

Shaukat Aziz in his address asked for a 'goal-oriented' Saarc, as its progress, he thinks, remains short of aspirations. He offered a roadmap to greater efficacy, noting Saarc nations first need to resolve differences and disagreements in order to work towards effective implementation and that necessarily requires "political will".

He said the promotion of a levelplaying field is required for "truly effective regional division of labour and production," adding, "It would require a truly open environment for regional trade devoid of all types of barriers to free trade."

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa stressed on terrorism, which has been the island nation's main theme in pre-summit meetings, say i ng," U n less we act col lecti vely as a region, trans-border terrorist groups will find safe haven in other parts of the region."

"We need to implement the provisions of international agreements on terrorism related matters," he said, urging the Saarc leaders to work out a regional counter-terrorism strategy.

Expressing concern at Saarc's lack of progress, he said, "We badly need to be action-oriented rather than dependent on rhetoric." He added that a single currency should be adopted to expedite the process.

Rajapaksa also asked fora sincere and strict 'timetable to implement Safta' in order to make it effective, while asking for a greater focus on 'rural development.'

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, as his country's first leader to represent it at a Saarc summit, said that a proposed gas-pipeline from Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India would benefitthe whole region.

He said regional experiences, such as micro-finance, have been invaluable in helping the reconstruction of Saarc and he feels that further collaboration and assistance from the countries would only help Afghanistan in the future.

Karzai invited regional investors to come forward and take advantage of 'enormous' commercial possibilities in his country.

Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala in his address emphasised the need for trade-facilitation measures to make Safta a win-win situation for all Saarc countries.

He observed that synergies among the Saarc nations need to be raised to a level that can sustain long-term collaborative efforts.

Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the only leader to attend all 14 summits, said a meeting of Saarc business leaders should take place simultaneously with the summits to promote greater public-private partnerships in Saarc projects.

Bhutanese Prime Minister Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk said in the absence of 'time-bound and result-oriented programmes the Saarc would risk becoming 'ineffective'.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing in his country's first ever address as observer, said China is ready to discuss with Saarc leaders possible cooperation mechanisms on infrastructure and energy, poverty alleviation, mitigation of disasters and relief, and human resources development.

Terming it a historic opportunity between the two fastest-growing regions in the world, Li said this new partnership would foster peace and stability in region.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said South Asia is the "central pillar" of theAsian arcof prosperity that stretches from east to the south. He added, "The Japanese government has just put an additional $7 million into the Saarc-Japan Special Fund."

He also warned that lack of strong connectivity within the region and with the outside world might disturb Saarc in tapping its potential.

South Korea Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon said his country's trade with Saarc nations has been growing at 22% a year, and reached $11 billion in 2006. He said Korea is willing to formulate concrete programmes for cooperation and share its experiences in ICT, government innovation and other areas in the economicfield.

Song also hoped that with the help of Saarc, "The process of resolving the North Korean Nuclear issue will move forward."

US and EU representatives, who too attended the summit as observers forthefirsttime, were present.