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Krittivas Mukherjee COLOMBO, Aug 2 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - A worsening of relations between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan hangs heavy over a summit of South Asian leaders beginning on Saturday, where discussions on terrorism will precede negotiations on trade and food security. Leaders of the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) are set to sign four agreements, including one on legal cooperation to combat terrorism.
The two-day summit will also frame a declaration on food security for a region which is home to a fifth of humanity.
Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives, Bangladesh and Afghanistan make up the rest of SAARC, formed 23 years ago to boost economic growth in one of the world's poorest regions -- an agenda held back by old rivalries among members.
SAARC summits have often failed to rise above the squabbles of India and Pakistan, mainly over the disputed Kashmir region, hurting progress on issues central to the bloc.
The summit's atmosphere is tense with India saying the four-year-old peace talks with Pakistan were at their lowest point after it suffered a spate of bomb attacks last month.
"This (terrorism) is certainly one of the issues which for us is a very important part of the issues in the summit," Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said.
"If we want to carry the SAARC's economic and social agenda forward it's essential that we manage to do this in an atmosphere free of violence."
Security problems are roiling other SAARC nations too.
While Afghanistan battles a resurgent Taliban and its effects singe Pakistan's western borders, a long conflict drags in Sri Lanka. Nepal still does not have a government and Bangladesh's army-backed administration struggles to hold elections.
The meeting is also being held in a country fighting a 25-year civil war, with the government pursuing a strategy to gradually retake rebel strongholds amid an almost daily barrage of land, sea and air attacks. The conflict has killed over 70,000 people.
A thick security blanket drapes Colombo with most parts of the city locked down. Leaders were brought from the airport in helicopters, while roads below were guarded by more than 19,000 police and military guards armed with automatic weapons.
Trains were emptied while sniffer dogs looked for explosives. Sri Lankan authorities also cancelled all flights for a week from a northern town, once a stronghold of the Tamil Tiger rebels, who are credited with perfecting the suicide bomb.
While terrorism remains the dominant theme, the leaders are also expected to discuss energy, climate change and a regional standards organization.
Progress has also been stymied due to domestic politics such as Pakistan refusing to give India special trade preferences.
Intra-SAARC trade remains at just over five percent of South Asian nations' total trade, compared to other regional forums such as Asean's internal trade at 26 percent and EU's 55 percent.
"This is a landmark summit in the sense that we are now moving from a declaratory phase to an implementation phase," Rohitha Bogollagama, Sri Lanka's foreign minister, said.
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