FACTBOX - Politics hobbles trade at Colombo SAARC meet

REUTERS - Trade and terrorism are on the agenda for the 15th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Colombo on Aug. 2 and 3.

Here is an overview of the group and its agenda:

HISTORY, AIMS:

- SAARC was established in 1985 by Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan became the eighth member in 2007.

- Formed to help boost economic growth and trade in one of the world's poorest regions -- home to about 1.5 billion people, tens of millions of whom live in abject poverty -- it has been flayed by critics who say it has remained a talking shop where lofty speeches are rarely translated into action.

TRADE RHETORIC AND REALITY:

- Trade between members did not accelerate in the five years after structured economic cooperation began with the SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) in December 1995.