All set for SAARC summit despite militant threat

NEW DELHI, Wednesday (Reuters) South Asian nations plan to go ahead with a long-delayed summit next month but threats of attacks by Islamist militants in the host country, Bangladesh, could still scuttle it.

India, which forced a postponement of the summit in February due to concerns about security in Dhaka, is committed to taking part in the Nov. 12-13 meeting, although fresh violence could cause New Delhi to review its decision, Indian officials said.

"We are constantly monitoring the situation and keeping our fingers crossed," a senior Indian official told Reuters. "As of now, the decision is to go ahead with the summit."

Pakistan said it would not seek a delay despite its focus on a massive relief effort after this month's deadly earthquake. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would represent Pakistan at the summit, a Pakistani spokeswoman said.

Founded in 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. It aims to promote trade and cooperation in the region which is home to one-sixth of the world's population, many of whom live in abject poverty.

But the grouping has been held hostage by rivalry between India and Pakistan over their competing claims to Kashmir, and has made little progress towards boosting growth in South Asia. Aziz and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are expected to meet on the sidelines of the summit to discuss the India-Pakistan peace process.

The SAARC summit was originally scheduled for January but was postponed following the Indian Ocean tsunami.

It was put off again in February after a former Bangladeshi finance minister was killed in political violence and India then declined to attend.

Security concerns grew further after an outlawed Islamist group exploded some 500 small bombs across Bangladesh in August, killing two people and wounding about 100.

Two more people were killed in five bomb blasts this month.

The militants, belonging to the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen group, have threatened more attacks on government sites in the next fortnight, a Bangladesh government official said this week.

A large team of Indian security agents is due to reach Dhaka soon to step up protection for India's prime minister.

Bangladeshi agencies will deploy a 20,000-strong force, including elite commandos and plainclothes intelligence agents.

The last SAARC summit, held in Islamabad in January 2004, agreed to launch a free trade area from 2006.

But trade experts of member countries have yet to resolve differences over tariff cuts and were to hold talks in coming weeks to address them, SAARC officials said.

The Dhaka summit would also seek to boost disaster management mechanisms across the region, and members were set to sign a customs cooperation agreement, said C.A.H.M. Wijeratne, a Sri Lankan foreign ministry official.