Kathmandu: In a significant development, India, Pakistan and other South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) countries on July 10 agreed to strengthen the grouping's convention on combating terrorism.

The SAARC foreign secretaries have agreed on an additional protocol on the SAARC convention on combating terrorism-1987 in line with the developments after September 11, 2001, Nepalese foreign secretary Madhuraman Acharya said.

The two-day SAARC special session of the Standing Committee concluded in a very cordial and friendly atmosphere and almost all regional issues were covered during the meeting, he said.

The Sri Lankan delegate presented the proposal during the special session. The two-day foreign secretary level meeting has proposed reconstitution of the seven SAARC Technical Committees, Acharya said.

The reconstituted seven technical bodies include SAARC Agricultural and Rural Development Committee, Health and Population Activities Committee, Woman, Youth and Children Committee, Environment and Forest Committee, Science and Technology Committee, Human Resources Development Committee and Transportation Committee.

The meeting also agreed on having special working groups in new areas like Information and Communication Technology, Biotechnology and Intellectual Property Rights, Acharya said.

The SAARC Standing Committee meeting endorsed the idea of accelerating South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) treaty negotiations and liberalisation. World Bank has also agreed to provide some seed money to set up a poverty reduction fund, Acharya added.

PTI