DHAKA, Nov 10: South Asian nations agreed on Thursday to set up a disaster management centre in India to help the region better handle calamities like tsunamis, earthquakes and floods that have ravaged it in the past year.

The agreement came at a meeting of South Asian officials in the Bangladeshi capital, ahead of a Nov. 12-13 summit of regional leaders which aims to push a long-standing goal of economic integration to achieve higher growth.

The region has been victim of two of the world’s worst disasters in the past year — the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Kashmir earthquake — and authorities have been found ill-equipped to tackle the aftermath.

“Cooperation in disaster preparedness and disaster management is ... a priority area for Saarc,” India’s junior Foreign Minister, E. Ahmed, said referring to the Saarc.

“India’s offer to host a Saarc regional centre for disaster management has been welcomed ... and accepted in principle,” he told a news conference.

“This is a recognition of India’s abundant experience and capabilities in this regard, which we are prepared to put at the disposal of Saarc member states.”

New Delhi is working on a plan to set up an early warning system for ocean disasters like tsunamis and a monitoring system costing $28 million is being built in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

India was also quick to rush to the assistance of Sri Lanka and sent help to distant Indonesia after the tsunami.

Efforts by India and Pakistan to work together to help victims of the Kashmir earthquake have, however, moved gingerly due to traditional rivalry between the neighbours over the disputed territory.—Reuters