His murder has robbed the region of an experienced foreign minister. Close on the heels of this sad development, came the bomb explosion across Bangladesh, stunning and shocking the country which is set to host the next summit of South Asian leaders in November. Undeniably, this also raised some degree of security fears and certain quarters of the press have speculated of a likelihoodremote thoughof affecting the summit because of this incident. The question is whether such developments warrant any further setback to Saarc?

It clearly appears that the political environment in the South Asian region has improved in recent times and this definitely bodes well for the next summit of Saarc scheduled in Bangladesh. The event suffered two postponements earlier and any risk of its once again not taking place on scheduleif any iota of doubt was therehad been eliminated by the interests of all the seven member nations.

The first postponement of the 13th Saarc summit was due to a natural calamity that struck several member countries while the second one was called off as India had expressed its inability to attenda decision that had shocked the hosts, Bangladesh. Later, new dates for the event were decided with the consent of all the seven member countries.

The recent visit of the Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh to Bangladesh has provided further impetus to the positive atmosphere in the regional ambience. The minister has said that his country is eagerly looking forward to a productive 13th summit while the visit itself had gone off reasonably well at bilateral level. The relationship between the hosts and the largest nation in the Saarc family have improved by the visit, setting at rest whatever scant doubts persisted about the timely holding and effectiveness of the event. Indeed, this augurs well for Saarc as a whole.

On the western front, ties between two traditionally rival neighbours India and Pakistanare on the right track of normalisation, and a recent meeting in New Delhi between the two countries on the sensitive nuclear issues at high officials level was seen as a further development in their often-battered relationship. Needless to say, Saarcparticularly the summitshad fallen victim to Indo-Pakistan hostilities many a time before. Scheduled conferences of the heads of government had to be deferred indefinitely and was made possible only when their bilateral ties improved. The current state of New Delhi-Islamabad relations provides encouragement to the overall South Asian political milieu. There is hardly any denying that their bilateral ties have a bearing on the regional scene.

Undoubtedly, certain developments in the South Asian region early this year gave rise to speculations whether the political climate had worsened, causing some irritation in the area where the situation was broadly healthy in the preceding year. The postponement of the scheduled 13th Saarc summit for the second time and developments in Nepal marking the dismissal of an elected government definitely caused fissures in the region. India had then cited the Nepal situation and also security conditions in Bangladesh as reasons for being unable to attend the event.

Postponement of Saarc summits is not a new phenomenonalbeit the deferment cannot be anything desirable if not based on consensus. Saarc has had such experience many times before, causing temporary dismay in the grouping. The last summit in Pakistan was held only after a long delay because of Indo-Pakistan bilateral problems. When the tsunami catastrophe struck India, Sri Lanka, and Maldives at the end of 2004 leading to the postponement of the much-awaited 13th summit in early January, the event was deferred as all agreed that the heads of government could not meet at a time when three of the seven members were hit by the disaster.

But the second postponement stemming from India's decision not to attend, citing political reasons, was largely not acceptablebut no summit is possible without unanimity of all members. India might have felt that it had rationale behind its decision, but there can be no denying that the host nation felt let down. After all, the preparations for such an event are a massive task for a country like Bangladesh, and it was evidently shocked.

The next summit is expected to take a number of important decisions crucial to the socio-economic cooperative efforts, including Safta. It is possible that different countries have varying approaches to complex issues like Safta, which is defying unanimity in certain fields. The member nations are meeting in Kathmandu soon in a bid to iron out the differences before the next summit.

Once the political situation improves, vexed issues are also often resolved, or at least narrowed down because of the positive spirit. Happily, the atmosphere is improving and one can hope that the seemingly intractable matters as regards Safta or other important issues will now be closer to consensus.

The visit of the Indian External Affairs Minister to Bangladesh has taken place at a time when it was needed not only for bettering bilateral relations, but also on a regional scale. Saarc, despite its admittedly sluggish progress, is undoubtedly a positive development in a region where such a venture was somewhat inconceivable owing to inherent mistrust and enmity that characterises the environment of this part of the world.

The achievements of Saarc may not be anything to brag about, but the very fact that it is functioning under difficult conditions and has also made some progress is in itself something for which the region can in a way boast about. Hopefully, the positive political climate that pervades South Asia now will effectively and positively contribute to the success of the next Saarc summit. The omens seem positive for the upcoming event and bilateral contacts among the important members of Saarc are contributing to this desirable situation Recent events like the killing of the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister and spate of orchestrated bomb explosions in Bangladesh must not be allowed to scuttle the timely holding of the summit since the event has already been quite delayed and must not suffer any further. Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has told Bangladesh Foreign Minister Hemayetuddin in Islamabad that his country is looking forward to a successful summit.

The Indian minister's expressed concerns like many other countries over the bomb explosions, but it appears that they also feel the need for the summit taking place in due time. The summits play a pivotal role in the effective operation of Saarc and many important decisions are to be taken by the leaders in the upcoming conference. While the next Saarc summit must go unhindered for the larger interest of the region, it is also the bounden duty of the host nation to see to it that appropriate condition--sinternally, diplomatically, and otherwise--remain conducive for the summit, and there can be no slackening in this direction.

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury is a senior journalist.