While the final declaration would only be ready when the leaders of the member-countries have provided their input during the summit discussions and their wishes have been reflected in it, the general contents were being put into shape.

A document incorporating basic ideas already known to officials would be ready to go to the foreign ministers when they meet later this week ahead of the leaders’ gathering.

The final Summit Declaration of the 15th SAARC summit is expected to deal with several issues critical to the South Asian region, ranging from food security through energy to terrorism.

The simultaneous bomb attacks in India ahead of the SAARC conference in which several persons died and many wounded graphically displayed the dangers South Asian countries faced from terrorism and the need for a well- coordinated joint effort to fight the scourge, diplomatic sources here said.

The global shortage of food and the consequent rise in food prices that have affected the SAARC region too is evidence of the need to take urgent measures to ensure that adequate buffer stocks are maintained to help out member-countries that might be caught up in a crisis situation.

It is understood that the issue of food security would be a key concern for SAARC leaders especially in the light of the recent spiraling of food prices that placed heavy burdens on member governments.

One of the reasons for the growing global pressure on food availability is believed to be climate change which, according to most scientific studies, is now occurring faster than previously estimated by scientists and experts in the field.

Climate change is expected to seriously impact on available water resources with dry areas of the world getting even drier and wet regions wetter.

It is in this context that SAARC leaders are expected to express their concern about water resources in the SAARC and how to manage these resources.

The SAARC kicked off here yesterday at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) where the programming committee met to prepare for the way for the foreign secretaries, foreign ministers and leaders meetings.

Speaking at a media briefing shortly after the day’s meetings of the programming committee end, spokesman Prasad Kariyawasam, until recently Sri Lanka’s permanent representative to the UN in New York, explained briefly what happened at the sessions on Monday. He was assisted by Ms Grace Asiriwatham, Director-General SAARC of the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry and ambassador-designate to the Netherlands.

They said that four agreements will be signed during the current summit. Some views on the proposed agreement on South Asian Standards Coordination are still awaited. If that is not finalised before the end of the summit then its approval would have to be postponed.

Replying to the question on the slow progress made by SAARC, Kariyawasam said that it took the European Union about 50 years to reach the stage it had now having started as a small economic grouping. SAARC, he said, was not even 25 years old.

The conference got off to a smooth start yesterday under tight security in sections of the Sri Lankan capital where a few areas where heads of governments and senior officials will be staying or moving in designated high security areas.