Perspective

The 16th SAARC summit concluded with Vowing to plant “10 million trees over the next five years” to build a “green and happy South Asia” and boost trade cooperation, in the scenic capital city of an environment-conscious Bhutan.Heads of states and governemnts of eight member-states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) also pledged to concentrate on the uplift of poverty stricken people in the region that is home to 1.5 billion humans – a fourth of the world population. Things are not expected to be any different in Thimpu. The 15th summit was held in Colombo in August 2008. The next one, under the provisions of the charter, should have been convened in 2009. As if Saarc was jinxed, 26/11 intervened and bitter recriminations between the traditional South Asian rivals — Pakistan and India — nearly brought them to the brink of hostilities. In the charged atmosphere it became highly unfeasible for the South Asian ‘family’ to get together in Thimpu in the pursuit of peace and prosperity through regional cooperation.But it did happen after all.

The Thimphu summit also marked the silver jubilee celebration of SAARC that was formed in Bangladesh in December 1985 with the aim of eradicating poverty and improving the living standard of 1.5 billion people of the region through mutual cooperation. This was the first SAARC summitBhutan has hosted.In these 25 years, Bhutan could not host the summit for once and had skipped being the host thrice, citing lack of infrastructure. However, it has agreed to host, coincidentally, the silver jubilee of the Saarc summit on April 28-29with a slogan:“Towards a Green and Happy South Asia.” 17th SAARC Summit will be held in Maldives’ capital Male next year.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina, Indian PM Manmohan Singh, Pakistani PM Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, Nepalese PM Madhav Kumar and Bhutanese PM Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley attended the summit, which marking the 25th year of the establishment of the body in Dhaka in 1985.The panoramic mountainous city had been put under a thick security blanket and it had donned a festive look as the main thoroughfares from Paro airport to the summit venue and places where the heads of the state and government of Saarc nations resided. Hotels had been decorated with flags of the member countries and banners inscribed with welcome slogans and portraits of the leaders.Bhutan made its best attempt to successfully conclude the summit.Observers from China, Japan, the European Union, Republic of Korea, USA, Australia, Mauritius and Iran attended the summit.

This usmmit was som important for SAARC as two big rivals remained hostile to each other for two years without dialogue.Because the animosity between these two countries always affect the overall progress of this regional body.However,they came and met and finally arranged discussion between the prime ministers of the countries.This year,The 16th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit issued a 37 point joint declaration highlighting the importance of more cooperation to resolve the issues of poverty, energy, terrorism, water, promoting development and improving the living standard of the people in the region.

Bangladesh as usual put emphasis its most vulnerable part:climate change.Prime minister Sheikh Hasina also drew attention in this summit for his proposal of ‘charter of democracy’.

She said this was the golden chance for all SAARC member countries to establish democracy on a strong base, as democracy was prevailing in all SAARC member countries at present.She said since all SAARC nations were functioning in democracies, we might adopt together a ‘charter of democracy’ to strengthen democratic practices and rule of law in South Asia.Bangladesh Prime Minister presented two innovative proposals to help the climate-victim countries in South Asia.

The proposals are

• setting up Himalayan Council on the model of the Arctic Council and an
• International Adaptation and Research Centre (IARC) in Bangladesh to recommend measures to cope with the impacts of climate change.

She said that,global warming and climate change have already impacted our nations with melting of the Himalayan glaciers, rising sea level, erratic precipitation, land degradation, desertification and salinity.Addressing the opening session of the summit, Hasina also stressed the need for developing a regional power-grid, harnessing renewable energy sources like hydropower, solar, bio-fuel, wind, and reducing dependence on fossil fuel.Our plans also include creation of a large carbon sink through social forestry and green belts, use of clean coal technology, nuclear power and renewable energy,” she said. “To meet the costs, we’ve set up a Climate Change Fund with our own resources,” she added

The most issue was India and Pakistan.Between August 1947 and 2010, the two countries have engaged in three wars, apart from militaristic stances over the Rann of Kutch, Siachen and Kargil. Both are also nuclear powers. Still they love to hate each other. Kashmir and water are symptoms, not the disease.Political developments account for the incongruity between the desire of the founding fathers and ground reality. The demolition of the Babri mosque by Hindu extremists, multiple nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, the Kargil misadventure, the Mumbai terrorist attacks, etc. served to spread tension and anxiety across South Asia.Saarc, a cooperative venture among nations of the region, was invariably a victim. Its meetings were postponed to be rescheduled when tempers had cooled. The passage of time did not completely heal the wounds. The residual mistrust and suspicion prevented constructive deliberations. Regrettably, it was the antagonism between Pakistan and India, the body’s leading member-states, which represented the principal hurdle in the realisation of the laudable goals enshrined in the organisation’s charter.

There has been seen an unpredictable soft breakthrough.This year,states other than India and Pakistan raised their voice for the sustained animosity between two big neihbors and its impact on SAARC.Maldives Prime minister Nashhed strongly uttered that,“I hope neighbours can find ways to compartmentalise their differences while finding ways to move forward. I am of course referring to India and Pakistan,” Nasheed said in his address at the opening of the two-day SAARC summit being held in the Bhutan capital.“I hope this summit will lead to greater dialogue between (them).Fortunately, better sense has prevailed.

There is also a constant pressure from US side on India and Pakistan to restart dialogue.USA thinks that in the environment enmity between the countries,terrorists are taking advantage and Pakistan can not give its full attention in war aginast Terrorists.However,South Asia’s two largest countries are to return to the negotiating table at some point without any ‘preconditions’. No specifics or details were given; there wasn’t even a joint press conference. But so dismal has been the state of relations between the two countries since the Mumbai attacks in November 2008 that even the vaguest of commitments should be applauded. So while the smiles of Pakistani and Indian officials were not the widest in Bhutan, at least the grimaces and prickly Indian references to a ‘terrorism-first’ approach were not in evidence. More promisingly, the foreign ministers of the two countries are to meet to, as the Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao put it, “work out the modalities for restoring trust”.

As part common desire to initiate dialogue, the prime ministers of India and Pakistan have had cordial exchanges and their foreign secretaries have deliberated on how to break the stalemate. The hitch is the mechanism to be adopted to ensure that the ensuing bilateral dialogue is sustainable, meaningful and productive. It is this obstacle that the prime ministers of Pakistan and India are expected to address in the event of their meeting on the sidelines of the Thimpu summit. A productive meeting would give a great boost to the regional body. By the same token a sterile outcome would serve as a dampener to regional cooperation.

The January 2004 Islamabad summit signalled a breakthrough in relations between India and Pakistan as evidenced in the Musharraf-Vajpayee agreement on the commencement of the composite dialogue process between the two countries. In tandem the Saarc summit produced perhaps the most important document since its creation in Dhaka in 1985 — the agreement on a South Asian Free Trade Area or Safta.

The 25th anniversary of Saarc should normally have been a cause for celebration with the member-states showing off the glittering road they have traversed together in their quest for “peace, stability, amity and progress in the region” as envisaged by the Saarc charter. Regrettably, peace and stability remain a forlorn hope. The region’s landscape has been bloodied by terrorism and insurgencies, and mutual distrust and suspicion have undermined amity. The notable exception is Sri Lanka’s impressive victory over terrorism.

In general terms,the situation in South Asia for decades remains the same. All the eight countries are different in their own way. Yet many of them were ruled by foreigners which has cast their outlook in a civilisational mould, reflecting their commonality. Unfortunately, they a seek solution to their basic problems, not from within the region but from outside. This dependence is the fallout of their slavery. The British who ruled practically the entire region were ruthless masters. They used people in the region as brick and mortar to build the structure of their empire. Any big or odd stone that did not fit in was crushed or thrown aside. Not many rose to challenge the system. The efforts of the few who did were nipped in the bud. Others were eliminated.

We shed each other’s blood, although we were independent. The subcontinent of India was partitioned into India and Pakistan on the basis of religion. When the constitution in the newly independent countries was framed, the people’s say was naturally the most.Still this region, with its people of different traditions, defeated the British. In their journey towards independence, they fell and rose but reached their destination. It is a saga of suffering and sacrifice which is recalled even today. South Asia has learned the lesson that every enslaved country does from humiliation. But what it has not learnt yet is that people have to make a joint effort to overcome problems. Together they can fight to determine the path they should take, the tactics they should adopt and the allies they should seek. All this demands an understanding that they are together. This cannot be assumed. A method has to be devised to ascertain their opinion, yes or no.

We are fighting, but becoming able to solve our issue by ourselves. Still we have respond to the gesture of United States of America.America is influencing India and Pakistan with regard to Afghanistan. The shadow of Afghanistan looms large. The Americans are believed to have leaned heavily on India to talk to Pakistan once again, and no doubt that pressure had something to do with the announcement in Bhutan. It may be a stretch too far at the moment, but perhaps sustained American pressure could push Pakistan and India closer to an accord.

Again situation seems to be changing.After SAARC summit India exposed the report that ,Kasab is found guilty in Mombai attack after the conviction of Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab for his role in the 60-hour siege.India’s home minister P. Chidambaram said, the judgment itself is a message to Pakistan that they should not export terror to India.If they do, and we apprehend the terrorists, we will be able to bring them to justice and give them exemplary punishment. ”Pakistan was not found on that trial.

SAARC Summit outcome has always been influenced by context.Being driven by the context, countries attempted to make joit efforts in the path of development, but again things change.The suspicion and mistrust appears in one form or the other. Even if one issue was to be solved, another would rear its ugly head because of the fundamental Hindu-Muslim divide. How do the two nations get away from this posture? The sooner we find an answer to this question, the stronger will be Saarc.

Writer: Shah Syed