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India asks SAARC to chart course for future

By The Assam Tribune

THIMPHU, April 26 � Noting that SAARC has achieved many milestones and created the institutional and legal framework for regional cooperation, India today pitched for introspection of the past by the eight-nation grouping and chart a course for the future, reports PTI.

�The Summit will give member states an opportunity to introspect on the past and chart a course for the future,� External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said as he arrived here for the 16th SAARC Summit in this idyllic city surrounded by mountains.

The eight-nation grouping has chosen climate change as the theme for the summit and the leaders are working on a silver jubilee declaration entitled �Towards a Green and Happy South Asia.�

�The theme is expected to be reinforced by the signing of a SAARC Convention on Cooperation in Environment by the Foreign Ministers in the presence of the heads of state and governments of SAARC member states,� Krishna said.

He said an Agreement on Trade in Services would also be signed during the Summit, thereby opening up new vistas of economic cooperation among SAARC countries.

�As we head for the 16th SAARC Summit in Thimphu, we are imbued with a sense of confidence and optimism in SAARC as a vehicle for regional development,� he said.

Krishna said over the years, SAARC has made visible strides and achieved many milestones and created the institutional and legal framework for regional cooperation through agreements and programmes covering almost every area of importance to the region, ranging from Poverty Alleviation and food security to terrorism and women�s empowerment.

�Its focus on grassroots development is designed to cater to the welfare of the people of South Asia and to bring about an improvement in their quality of life,� he said.

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