1. The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation represents 25 percent of the world population. Important features of SAARC include its biodiversity, its large population coverage, and its cultural heritage. 2. But the people of SAARC countries are still poor and backward; the per capita income is low; unemployment and terrorism have created tensions in the region; quality education and healthcare are not available to all. 3. Since one billion citizens of SAARC countries live in villages, rural life can be improved only by providing better physical connectivity, electronic and knowledge connectivity, land reforms and agrarian reforms. 4. India should extend the programme called "Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas” (PURA) to other remote and backward states to lift them from the quagmire of poverty, unemployment, and dogmatism.