Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh arrived in the Bhutanese capital, Thimpu to lead India's delegation in the 16th SAARC Summit beginning this afternoon. On his arrival at the Paro International Airport, Dr Singh was accorded a warm welcome and was received by Prime Minister of Bhutan Jigme Thinley. Dr Singh and his wife Gurusharan Kaur were presented Khadhar, a ceremonial scarf when they came out of the aircraft. Prime Minister also inspected a guard of honour by a contingent of the Bhutanese Army and met other ministers and senior officials.<br/><br/>Earlier, Dr Singh said, India is ready to help in resurgence of South Asia which cannot remain immune to the trend of greater integration. In a statement on the eve of his departure to Bhutan, he asked the SAARC Nations to play its rightful role in the changing world. Prime Minister said in his statement that the Summit will provide the countries of this region an opportunity to collectively reflect on the current status and what more can be done to meet the developmental aspirations of the people.<br/><br/>Observing that the theme of this year's Summit is climate change, Dr Singh said, he look forward to discussing regional cooperation and strategies for tackling the effects of global warming in the region. He said, the region is a vulnerable one and demands a coordinated and well thought out response cutting across sectors adding that all stand to benefit by learning from each other's experiences and strengths. Dr Singh said, India enjoyed close relations with Bhutan which were based on complete mutual trust and understanding.<br/><br/>He said that the establishment of SAARC in 1985 was a visionary step for the South Asian region and during this period the region has witnessed major transformation, and the idea of regional economic cooperation has taken firm roots. Prime Minister said, SAARC nations have established a robust institutional framework for cooperation in diverse areas such as food security, poverty alleviation, terrorism, communication links, trade and economic, and a range of social issues impacting lives of their people.<br/><br/>He added that the South Asian Free Trade Agreement, the SAARC Development Fund and the South Asian University were some concrete examples of regional projects that would enable greater economic inter-linkages and promote people to people contacts within the region.