Let's fight common scourges, not each other

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday called on the Saarc nations to fight the common problems instead of fighting each other.

"My vision for our region is a dispute-free South Asia, where instead of fighting each other, we jointly fight poverty, illiteracy, disease, malnourishment, and unemployment," he told the inaugural session of the 18th Saarc Summit in Kathmandu.

Though the region is home to nearly one quarter of humanity on the planet, it accounts for only 6 percent of world GDP in purchasing power parity and is attracting only 3 percent of global foreign direct investment (FDI), Sharif said. "We are one of the least integrated regions in the world."

Highlighting the importance of Saarc, the Pakistani PM said the organisation had come to epitomise the hopes of the region's peoples, for peace, progress and prosperity.

He called the theme of this summit, "Deeper Integration for Peace and Prosperity", most appropriate.