South Asia signs deals to fight terror, hunger

By Krittivas Mukherjee

COLOMBO (Reuters) - South Asian leaders signed a legal cooperation pact on Sunday aimed at combating terrorism, and agreed to set up a food bank to fight hunger in the face of rising food prices in one of the world's poorest regions.

But the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), a forum of eight nations, made little progress on trade, the central theme of the group formed in 1985.

The summit provided no concrete steps to invigorate the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement which came into effect two years ago but which has failed to take off.

Aimed at achieving zero tariffs on almost all products by 2012, SAFTA has witnessed squabbles over tariff concessions with Pakistan accusing India of violating the agreement with various non-tariff barriers.

Instead, terrorism in one of the world's most troubled regions, long haunted by rivalries between its most powerful members, India and Pakistan, dominated the summit.

Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives and Afghanistan make up the rest of SAARC, which represents around a fifth of the world's population.

"During the summit, there was clear recognition that terrorism has become a great menace throughout the world, including in our region," said Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also the current SAARC chair.

"South Asia cannot progress unless there is stability and security throughout the region."