India expressed hope Saturday that seven South Asian countries would sign a free trade pact during their January 4-6 summit in Pakistan, AFP reported from New Delhi.

“It is our hope that it will get signed. It will definitely have a great impact,” Indian Foreign Secretary Shashank, who uses only one name, told a news conference.

Senior commerce ministry official S.S.Kapoor said only a “few issues” remained to be resolved in the proposed South Asian Free Trade Agreement and hoped they would be sorted out in meetings ahead of the leaders’ summit.

Unresolved issues include anti-dumping measures, safeguards on quotas and the timeframe of a draft agreement, Kapoor said. nepalnews.com br Dec.28