ISLAMABAD Dec 15: Senate chairman Muhammedmian Soomro on Wednesday stressed the need for broadening the terms of reference of Saarc by including political disputes in order to achieve a sense of security and develop mutual trust for all-round cooperation.

He was delivering the inaugural speech at the fourth Saarc information ministers' conference which began at a hotel. The Indian information minister did not turn up and was represented by his country's secretary information while the remaining six states were represented by their ministers of information.

Mr Soomro said the most successful groupings, such as the European Union and the Asean, had no such exclusion of political issues as a result of which trust and mutual confidence existed among their members. These were vital ingredients for integration and mutually beneficial cooperation.

He said he had long felt that the full potential of Saarc for promoting integration and mutually beneficial cooperation could be realised only after this restriction was removed, to facilitate the organization to take up disputes with a view to resolving them peacefully through dialogue.

He hoped that, as mutual trust and cooperation developed among member states, this exclusion will be abandoned so that Saarc could achieve its full potential in promoting friendship and cooperation among members.

Mr Soomro said that since the second conference of information ministers, held in Islamabad in March 2002, Saarc has been transformed into a truly dynamic and effective instrument of cooperation, thanks to the breakthrough achieved early this year at the 12th summit of the grouping.

He said the hope expressed two years ago about improving travel facilities among Saarc countries, especially between India and Pakistan, had been fulfilled to a large extent with both Pakistan and India having reached agreements.

The key element in the transformation of Saarc, he said, was the rapprochement between the two largest members of this grouping, thanks mainly to the statesmanship of their leadership.

He said: "We have witnessed an intensification of activity in the entire Saarc region after almost a year of the landmark Islamabad Declaration adopted on January 4 this year."

The Senate chairman said that the foundations laid in earlier summits in the sphere of trade were showing good results. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that as current chairman of Saarc Pakistan was playing a proactive role by hosting a number of high-level conferences covering various areas.

He said the media was equipped to project not only major events but also to spread understanding of issues and promote sharing of know-how. Saarc's Secretary General Q.A.M.A. Rahim said the grouping, from its early days, felt that cooperation in the field of information would be of utmost importance to derive full benefit of regional cooperation.

He hoped that the current meeting of information ministers will, among other things, also consider recommendations on various issues by the meeting of the heads of TV and radio organizations, the conference of editors and working journalists as well as the meeting of technical experts on digitization of TV and radio of member countries.

The Indian secretary information, Mr Chawla, said the recommendations adopted by the first Saarc information ministers moot in 1998 had emphasized free flow of newspapers, periodicals, books and other publications, and reduction of postal and telecommunication rates for media transmission and information material.

This meeting, he hoped, would review progress in the implementation of the plan and decisions taken by the third meeting of Saarc information ministers in New Delhi last year.