Islamabad: The 12th SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) Summit concluded today (Jan 6, 2004) adopting the "Islamabad Declaration" and landmark agreements committing the member-nations to elimination of terrorism in all forms and manifestation and providing for free trade in the region.

The documents were signed by the Foreign Ministers in the presence of their heads of State and Government, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the concluding session of the 3-day summit of the seven SAARC nations - India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan.

The Islamabad Declaration contains the roadmap for South Asian co-operation and has a historic significance, Pakistan Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali said, adding that Pakistan would do its utmost to implement the Declaration collectively and individually.

The Additional Protocol on the review of the SAARC Convention on Suppression of Terrorism 1987, which pledges itself to elimination of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations in the region, was described by Jamali as "another landmark" agreement.

Terming the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement as a "watershed" accord that would re-invigorate regional co-operation, Jamali said SAARC had made good progress and South Asian Preferential Trade Agreements would benefit the people of the region immensely.

Vajpayee, Jamali, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Nepalese Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa and Bhutanese Prime Minister Lyonop Jigme Y Thinley later posed for photographs clasping their hands in unison.