A new chapter is unfolding in relations between China and the South Asian nations.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) opens its 14th summit in New Delhi today. As with all such summits, this gathering of South Asian nations is expected to generate calls for better regional cooperation.

As one of the summit observers, China has sent a delegation for the first time. It is headed by Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

The status SAARC has given to China is opening one more window for cooperation between the two. China will bring additional vitality to the association by providing a new dimension to its interactions, trade and investment.

Historically and geographically China and the southern part of the continent are closely linked. Their cultural interaction dates back centuries.

A wide range of concerns provides great potential for cooperation, such as energy, the economy and trade, human resources development and people-to-people contact.

The Chinese government has vowed to make concerted efforts with South Asian nations to promote regional peace and prosperity.

This year Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh takes over the leadership of SAARC, a key instrument for tackling regional problems and bolstering cooperation.

The visible improvement in India-Pakistan ties over the past few years may lead to more regional initiatives.

Stretching from the Maldives in the Indian Ocean in the south to Nepal in the Himalayas in the north and from Pakistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east, the vast region is a land of challenge and hope. It is rich in natural resources and vast in territory and population.

Home to a large population of the world's poor, SAARC nations at their previous summit declared 2006-15 the decade of poverty alleviation.

SAARC progress on the economic front - agreeing to launch a free trade area - has drawn on what is progressive in other regional initiatives such as the European Union and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations.

SAARC was launched with a vision. Its effort to develop cooperation with countries outside South Asia will increase opportunities for the development that is vital to the region's people.

The ambitious initiative of cooperation will help South Asia exorcise the demons of its past with the hope of future regional peace and prosperity.

(China Daily April 3, 2007)