Kathmandu: Stressing on transforming South Asia into a region of progress and prosperity, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said India is committed to cooperate with other SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries to achieve "ambitious objectives" of the seven-nation grouping.

"Our common agenda is rich and diverse -- to work closely together to maximise economic cooperation, to promote equitable development in our countries; to jointly fight poverty, disease, hunger and illiteracy and to transform South Asia into a region of progress and prosperity," he said in a message yesterday (Dec 9) on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the signing of the SAARC charter.

Reaffirming India's commitment to cooperate with other SAARC nations, the Prime Minister said, "We still have a long way to go to fully realise our latent collective potential and to achieve our ambitious objectives."

"India remains fully committed to cooperating with all the other member countries to realise our goals," he said in his message.

Extending greetings to all SAARC members on the occasion, he said, "In these 18 years, we have moved forward in our collective endeavour to establish a regional identity through the SAARC process," according to sources at the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu.

PTI