The leaders of South Asia called for fighting terrorism together as a regional summit opened on Saturday, Reuters reported. The leaders of the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) plan to sign four agreements, including one on legal cooperation to combat terrorism at the summit in the Sri Lankan capital. The two-day summit will also frame a declaration on food security for a region which is home to a fifth of humanity and remains one of the poorest in the world. "The challenges of terrorism must be overcome in order for us to realise the potential of greater regional integration... greater economic integration," Afghan President Hamid Karzai said. India and Pakistan's prime ministers too called for defending the value of pluralism from terrorism, and said a united fight was needed against violence if the region was to grow. Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives, and Bangladesh make up the rest of SAARC, formed 23 years ago to boost economic growth. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani were due to meet later on Saturday to try and salvage the peace process.
