New Delhi: In an apparent wake up call to Pakistan, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today said South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) would "simply miss the boat" if the regional grouping failed to organise itself and warned that "other alignments" would develop to seize the economic opportunities offered by closer integration.

Observing that post Cold War alignments and the technology revolution have set in motion trends, which could not be ignored, he said, "It is time that we recognise what it means for all of us in South Asia".

Inaugurating the third SAARC Information Ministers' Conference, Vajpayee, who delayed his departure for Moscow, warned, "if SAARC cannot organise itself, it will simply miss the boat".

"Other alignments will develop to seize the economic opportunities offered by closer integration. We cannot forever be challenging logic and mocking economics", he told representatives from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan besides India.

PTI