"We will invite her [Hasina] with due honour since the leader of the opposition in parliamentary democracy is seen as the prime minister-in-waiting," Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan told diplomatic correspondents at his office yesterday.

Seeking cooperation from all in making the summit a complete success, he said: "Credit for a successful summit will go not only to the government, but to the people also."

The foreign minister praised the Awami League-led opposition parties for deferring their grand rally in Dhaka from November 15 to November 22 and said, "I think they are also happy to see the Saarc summit being held."

He said Bangladesh is fully prepared for the summit and now looks forward to welcoming the Saarc leaders -- President of Sri Lanka Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, President of the Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, King of Nepal Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz and Prime Minister of Bhutan Lyonpo Sangay Ngedu.

Morshed said much enthusiasm is being witnessed among the people of Bangladesh and other member states and the top officials of the Saarc countries keep close contact with the foreign ministry regarding the summit preparation.

Most of the Saarc leaders are coming with their spouses, he told reporters.

There are requests from the member countries to hold the meetings of the Programme Committee, Standing Committee and Council of Ministers for one and a half days instead of one day each, the foreign minister said.

He said the entire nation has united on the occasion of the Saarc summit and everybody is looking forward to a successful holding of the summit. There has been a common realisation among all that the summits should have to be result-oriented, he added.

Morshed regretted that the seven-nation forum has so far held 12 summits in 20 years and it could not be held on eight occasions due to various reasons.

"There were directions in the speeches of the heads of state and government and summit declarations in all the past 12 summits, but unfortunately there was no such guideline about how to implement those directions. This is why we are now actively thinking to give maximum emphasis on implementation," he said.

Asked about the prime focuses of the summit, the minister said hardcore economic issues, poverty alleviation, social charter, disaster management and combating terrorism will be some of the major agendas in the forthcoming summit.

"We want to integrate the economy of South Asia...we want all countries of Saarc should develop equally. It would be a serious problem if there is an imbalance of development among the member states. We feel all states should march towards development equally with each other's support," he added.

Asked about a report that the Indian PM will not stay overnight in Dhaka on November 13, Morshed said, "Dr Manmohan Singh should know it better." He hastened to add that the identity of the quarter that aired this apprehension is well known to all.

Meanwhile, official sources said most of the heads of state and government will be arriving in Dhaka on November 11, foreign ministers on November 10, foreign secretaries by November 9 morning, and directors general/ joint secretaries (Saarc) on November 7.

Pre-summit meetings will start with the meeting of Saarc Programming Committee on November 8-9, followed by Standing Committee comprising the foreign secretaries on November 9-10 and the Council of Ministers on November10-11.

The Saarc foreign ministers, who will be joining the Dhaka summit are: Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk of Bhutan, K Natwar Singh of India, Dr Ahmed Shaheed of the Maldives, Ramesh Nath Pandey of Nepal, Khurshid M Kasuri of Pakistan and Anura Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka.

The number of official delegations will be around 150 to 175, while more than 200 foreign journalists are expected here to cover the event.