In a move that could address India's concerns, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries, including Pakistan, on Wednesday committed themselves to suppress fund-raising activities by terror outfits through their frontal groups as part of efforts to check the scourge posing a threat to the entire region.

At the two-day summit, the eight-nation grouping agreed to establish a Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters at the regional level that would equip them to deal with terrorism in a better manner.

During the summit that covered a wide range of themes including connectivity, trade, energy, poverty alleviation and food security, SAARC decided to set up a South Asia University in India and a regional food bank besides agreeing on early operationalisation of the SAARC Development Fund.

Observing that terrorism remained a threat to peace and security in the region, the member countries expressed their commitment to "take every possible measure to prevent and suppress, in particular, financing of terrorist acts by criminalising the provision, acquisition and collection of funds for such acts, including through front organisations."

This is significant as India has been voicing concern over frontal organisations of terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba openly collecting funds for their activities. New Delhi has been pressing Islamabad to disallow such activities.

An eight-page Joint Declaration adopted by the 14th Summit said the member countries agreed to work on the modalities to implement the provisions of the existing SAARC conventions to combat terrorism, narcotics and psychotropic substances, trafficking in women and children and other trans-national crimes.