Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Islamabad Wednesday called for an early holding of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka which has twice been put off, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.

Talking to reporters after their formal talks, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and visiting Sri Lankan President Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga agreed on the need to make more efforts to hold the regional summit as soon as possible.

"Certainly we are in favor of an early holding of the summit and we will do our best to help hold it as soon as possible," said Mrs. Kumaratunga.

Aziz, who is holding the SAARC chairmanship, said Pakistan was endeavoring to hold the summit at the earliest to give further momentum to the process of SAARC for regional cooperation. "Pakistan wants the SAARC process to move forward and be further strengthened," he added.

Pakistani officials were quoted as saying that the two leaders expressed their disappointment at the postponement of the Dhaka summit.

The 13th SAARC summit, which was originally scheduled for Jan. 9 in Dhaka, was first put off after the Dec. 26 tsunami in the Indian Ocean last year. The summit was rescheduled for Feb. 6 and 7 but was again postponed when India said at the last hour it could not participate.

Pakistan and Sri Lankan also signed four accords and two MoUs including the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that will "open a new chapter of economic cooperation between the two countries," reported the official news agency.

Aziz described the signing of FTA as historic and said it would be a "turning point" in the economic ties between the two South Asian states.

Mrs. Kumaratunga, who arrived in Islamabad on Monday for a three-day visit, noted that it was the first such agreement Pakistan had signed with another country and promised to make it operational as early as possible as well as a success to the mutual benefit of the two countries.
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2005)