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“My fear is that at the moment there is a disconnectionbetween ambition and achievement. The ultimate result is thatSAARC is not adequately delivering on the needs of the people ofSouth Asia,” Nasheed said.Manmohan Singh had said that SAARC ran the “risk ofmarginalisation and stagnation”. “The 21st century cannot bean Asian century unless South Asia marches together.” Theagreement on trade, signed by the nations’ foreign ministers,covers services in health, hospitality, communications,computers and air transport services. The environmentconvention, signed by the leaders, is aimed at exchangingknowledge and eco-friendly technology to combat climatechange. The fund for fighting poverty, with contributions fromeach nation, will be used for projects that empower women andpromote healthcare and for building infrastructure.Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh said SouthAsian countries have opened up new windows of cooperation,and added that the SAARC Development Fund, the Food Bank,the South Asian Free Trade Agreement and the South AsianUniversity are examples of new institutions that will knit ourregion more closely together.Breaking the ice, India and Pakistan decided to resumedialogue at the level of foreign ministers as Prime MinistersManmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani met in Thimphu intheir first substantive engagement in less than a year.During their meeting, Singh andGilani decided that the channels ofdialogue between the two countriesshould be kept open to restore "trustand confidence" in the bilateralrelationship.This was their first meeting aftertheir dialogue in Sharm-el-Sheik in Egypt on July 16, 2009following which a major controversy had broken out in India onthe contents of the joint statement.Terrorism and the "slow progress" of Pakistan's probe intoMumbai attacks formed part of the agenda of the discussionswhich were held at the 'Bhutan House' here on the margins ofthe SAARC Summit. The two leaders first met accompanied bytheir delegations which was followed by a one-on-one meetingand then again by delegations.SAARC: A Fact FileThe South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and political organization of eight countriesin Southern Asia. In terms of population, its sphere of influence is the largest of any regional organization almost 1.5 billionpeople, the combined population of its member states. It was established on December 8, 1985 by Bangladesh , Bhutan , Maldives,Nepal, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka . In April 2007, at the Association's 14th summit, Afghanistan became its eighth member.OBJECTIVESThe objectives of the Association as defined in the Charter are:H to promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and to improve their quality of life;H to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals theopportunity to live in dignity and to realize their full potential;to promote and strengthen collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia;to contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another's problems;to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields;to strengthen cooperation with other developing countries;to strengthen cooperation among themselves in international forums on matters of common interest; andto cooperate with international and regional organisations with similar aims and purposes.HHHHHHSAFTATo promote trade in the region, SAARC has implemented the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), which went in to forceon 1st January, 2006.SECRETARIATThe SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January, 1987 and was inaugurated by Late King Birendra BirBikram Shah of Nepal.08 PT’s PrepTalk – May 2010