Colombo, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Terrorism, food security and energy issues will top the agenda of the upcoming 15th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit to be held here, a leading Sri Lankan newspaper Daily News reported Monday.

    Addressing a news conference here after the meeting of the programming committee of SAARC here on Sunday, the Additional Secretary to the Foreign Ministry and Media spokesman for SAARC Prasad Kariyawasam said the summit would focus on meaningful ways to uphold its theme "Partnership for Our People."

    Thus SAARC would deliberate practical and meaningful ways to propel the vision of growth in the region through partnership, Kariyawasam said.

    The leaders had realized that SAARC had to evolve into a more people-centered organization and thus this year's theme was a progression from last year's theme of connectivity, he said.

    The 15th SAARC Summit, slated on Aug. 2 and 3, is set to adopt four agreements including SAARC Development Fund, South Asian Standards Co-ordination, South Asian Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters and Protocol of Afghanistan's accession to South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), according to Daily News.

    The heads of SAARC member states worked out a 30-point declaration at the last Summit held in India last year. The declaration covered areas of crucial importance to the SAARC membership. Some of the important areas of the declaration have a bearing on key connective instruments of SAARC.

    This is inevitable since there has to be backup organs not only to formulate particular policies based on the decisions taken by the leaders but also to implement such policies.

    The 15th SAARC summit is expected to carry progress from that point onwards, the Daily News report said, adding that the implementation of the different proposals was most relevant and practical to SAARC.

    The SAARC was established when its charter was formally adopted on Dec. 8, 1985 by the heads of state or government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In April 2007, at the association's 14th summit, Afghanistan became its eighth member.

    The cooperation of the SAARC is also based on broader principles of respect for the principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political independence, non-interference in internal affairs of the member states and on mutual benefit. The highest authority of the Association rests with the heads of state or government.

    According to the SAARC Charter, the heads of state or government shall meet once a year or more often as and when considered necessary by the member states.