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ISLAMABAD: South Asian leaders wrote a new chapter in the region's history on Tuesday by signing a framework agreement on free trade that will open up new avenues of economic cooperation to benefit of over 1.4 billion people.

The South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) that was recommended by the foreign ministers of seven member states was inked during the concluding session of the 12th SAARC Summit.

Besides host Pakistan, other members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives. Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who is the Chairman of SAARC, presided over the concluding session. He described the signing as 'historic milestone' for the South-Asian region.

Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries signed the SAFTA framework agreement on behalf of their respective governments. Rich in national resources, efforts in the past to harness region's potential failed to succeed. Political and economic experts across South Asia widely blamed the failure on the absence of requisite stable security environment and political disputes in the region.

The growing thaw between the two major members nuclear-capable Pakistan and India, however, has fueled hopes for a new beginning in the region. Leaders of both the countries made their first contact since the failed Agra summit in July 2001, on the back of a spate of confidence building measures (CBMs) to normalize their tense relations.