However, analysts pointed out that numerous agreements and contracts had been signed at SAARC Summits but they remained on paper afterwards.
The mammoth budget for the 15th Summit draws fire among people in Sri Lanka. Complaining of the inflation and high oil prices, many people think the summit is just a waste of money with little hope of achieving substantial results.
The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) is an important initiative taken at the 12th SAARC summit in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on Jan. 6, 2004. The SAARC countries signed a framework SAFTA agreement with zero customs duty on the trade of practically all products in the region by the end of 2016.
The SAFTA is widely considered as one of the concrete steps taken by SAARC to promote trade cooperation in the region. The new agreement SAFTA, came into being in 2006 and will be operational following the ratification from the governments of SAARC member states. However, the SAARC governments have not reached a consensus on it thus it is still not operational.
Analysts say that the SAARC member countries can not reach a consensus easily because, more often than not, their differences outweigh their common interest.
India is most powerful in the region and other member states are no rival to it in terms of economic and political influence in the world. The imbalance of power among the organization will, to a great extent, hamper the development of SAARC because small countries are wary of the dominance of India in the region, a study published by Stanford Journal of International Relations said.
The relationship between India and Pakistan plays a crucial role for regional peace and stability. Their relations have undergone ups and downs despite the composite dialogues between them.
The Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fires around on the Line of Control just two days before the commencement of the summit. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi held bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart and said at a news conference on Thursday that the two countries should stop finger pointing and let ceasefire continue.
