India's Minister of State for Tourism Renuka Chowdry and other heads of delegation from SAARC countries attended a meeting of SAARC Tourism Ministers in Colombo today and signed a declaration on joint efforts to promote tourism in the region. Speaking at the meeting, Ms. Chowdry commended the resilience of the people of Sri Lanka and India for bouncing back from the tsunami, which had taken a heavy toll on human lives, livelihood and industry, particularly the tourism industry. She said the present need was to collectively address common issues that will bring benefits to the people of the region.