Islamabad, Jan. 2: Saarc foreign ministers today finalised an agreed framework on the South Asian Free Trade Area ahead of the summit, beginning Sunday.

“I am very happy to announce that foreign ministers of all the seven member states showed statesmanship and recommended to the Saarc heads of state/government an agreed framework on Safta,” Pakistan foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri said after a day-long meeting of the South Asian association’s council of ministers.

“We have also been able to address concerns of the smaller states on certain provisions of the agreement,” he added.

Foreign minister Yashwant Sinha said: “We have moved smoothly on all agenda items for the summit discussed so far.” There is no difference of opinion on any item, he emphasised.

Some members, Bangladesh in particular, have had reservations about the Safta, but the Saarc standing committee has managed to remove most obstacles that have so far prevented the agreement’s finalisation.

Bangladesh has been demanding concessions from the big countries, fearing the draft agreement in its present form would harm their interests.

Kasuri had earlier in the day hoped Safta would be ready for signing at the summit. “There is a genuine reason to be optimistic…a lot of hard work has gone into finalising the framework for free trade within South Asia, which will provide fresh impetus to trade within the region,” he had said at a seminar on regional cooperation.

“I am a born optimist” was Kasuri’s quick response when reporters asked if he foresaw further progress and ultimately the signing of the free-trade deal.

Asked whether the Safta, if signed, would pave the way for meetings between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf, Kasuri said: “We have done our bit. It is now up to them (the Indian leadership)” to decide.

Kasuri iterated that Pakistan is also ready for composite dialogue that would address all bilateral issues of concern. “India must respond to our gestures because it always takes two to tango.”

At the two-day meeting of the council of ministers that began this morning, Kasuri urged the members to work closely together to carry forward the Saarc process. “Coordination, cooperation and consultations are indispensable to carry forward the Saarc process,” he said.