Anti-terrorism tops summit agenda

NEW DELHI: The foreign ministers of seven South Asian countries welcomed Afghanistan into the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) yesterday, and prepared for the summit where the fight against terrorism would be a key topic of discussion today and Wednesday.

They will ask their leaders to issue a "very strong statement against terrorism", Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said.

Representatives from China, Japan, South Korea, the US and the European Union, too, will attend the summit's opening and closing sessions and some meetings as observers.