DHAKA: In a strong endorsement of India’s stand, the SAARC countries pledged to declare war on poverty and terrorism, admitted Afghanistan as the eighth member of the group and signed three key accords on customs cooperation, avoidance of double taxation and setting up an arbitration council to strengthen economic linkages.
“It is my firm belief that through collective efforts, our region can, and will, overcome the multiple challenges of poverty, ignorance and disease that constrain our peoples,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared at the concluding ceremony of the two-day 13th SAARC summit, held at the international conference centre here, after the summit leaders adopted the, “Dhaka Declaration.”
See also: SAARC countries vow for closer cooperation against terrorism on People’s Daily.
