UNITED NATIONS, Sept 24: Following the largest gathering of world leaders ever assembled on one platform and a week of general debate which ended on Friday, nations were challenged to turn their promises into concrete action plans.

“The extent to which we all of us in this assembly can muster a spirit of urgency and common purpose in the coming days and weeks will ultimately determine whether the World Summit goes down in history as a missed opportunity for the UN, or – as I hope – as the start of the most substantial reform programme in the history of the Organization,” the president of UN General Assembly, Jan Eliasson, said at the conclusion of the general debate.

Urging all states to build on the progress achieved by the recent United Nations summit meeting, Mr Eliasson outlined concrete plans to move the negotiating process forward.

He pledged to meet all concerned to discuss follow-up to the summit’s recommendations. “Taking into account the views expressed, I intend to write to all member states before the end of next week outlining the proposed way forward,” he said.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan observed: “Leaders did not deliver everything I had hoped for, but the summit did produce some remarkable commitments. Taken together, the gains are significant enough to say that the glass is at least half full, perhaps more.”

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri told the General Assembly that relations between India and Pakistan were improving and ‘there is new hope for peace and cooperation in South Asia’.