PM Modi raises terrorism at SAARC, says collective efforts needed

Kathmandu, Nov 26: Nowhere in the world are collective efforts more important than in south Asia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit here Wednesday.

"Nowhere in the world are collective efforts more urgent than in South Asia; and, nowhere else is it so modest: PM @narendramodi," ministry of external affairs spokesman Syed Akbaruddin quoted Modi in a tweet.

"How much have we done in Saarc to turn our natural wealth into shared prosperity," Modi asked. He, however, reassured the summit that south Asia is slowly coming together.

The prime minister also said that the future he dreamt for India was the future that he wished for the entire Saarc region.

Established in 1985 in Bangladesh, the Saarc is a regional association of eight south Asian countries, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan joined Saarc as its eighth member state in 2007.

Modi also recalled the horror of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack at the Saarc summit and stressed on the need to combat "terrorism and trans-national crimes".

"Today, as we remember the horror of the terror attack in Mumbai in 2008, we feel the endless pain of lost lives," said Modi said at the opening of the two-day Saarc summit here.

"Let us work together to fulfil the pledge we have taken to combat terrorism and trans-national crimes," he added.

As many as 166 people were killed in the Nov 26-28 Mumbai terror attack in which 10 gunmen from Pakistan sneaked into India and let loose a reign of terror.

IANS