South Asian leaders ended a summit in the Maldives on Friday with pledges to increase regional trade as India and Pakistan demonstrated signs of easing tensions between them. Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed said the eight-member grouping agreed to increase trade and economic co-operation through a string of agreements, including one on railways and motor vehicles.
There were no specific deadlines, but Nasheed said their foreign ministers were asked to work on time lines and other details. They also agreed to set up a mechanism to deal with piracy in the Indian Ocean. The summit of the eight-member South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation was overshadowed by a meeting between the Indian and Pakistan Prime Ministers who vowed a "new chapter" in their tense relations. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said their next round of talks should be "far more productive" and "far more practical-orientated and "far more positive."
Nasheed welcomed the easing in tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals and saw it as a boost to the Saarc, which also includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan. The US, which is an observer of Saarc, welcomed the easing of Indo-Pak tensions and said increasing trade and economic co-operation could also form a solid basis for political ties. "The recent developments (between India and Pakistan) offer reason for significant hope," US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert told the summit on Friday.
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