SAARC SUMMIT
Walk The Talk
As the regional leaders have themselves conceded, the time for SAARC now is to walk the talk
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
From SAFTA to poverty alleviation, various commitments, pledges and promises made by the regional leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) have bitten the dust due to lack of political will to implement them.
Plagued by conflicts of political interests among key members of the region, the SAARC has been unable to provide "SAARC Dividend" to the people of the region as noted by Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at the recently concluded 14 th Summit in New Delhi .
At the end of two-day summit (April 3-4), the leaders had one common resolve – to implement the promises they have made in the past. The regional leaders have emphasized that "In its third decade of existence, there was an urgent need to move SAARC from declaratory to implementation phase."
The 30-point New Delhi declaration states that the heads of governments have "directed that the focus of SAARC should be on implementing collaborative projects that are concrete and effective."
"With the welfare of the peoples of South Asia uppermost in their mind, they (heads of state or government) agreed to build a Partnership for Prosperity and work towards shared economic cooperation, regional prosperity, a better life for the people of South Asia , and equitable distribution of benefits and opportunities of integration among the peoples and the nations," the declaration states.
This year, the membership of SAARC has grown from seven to eight as the leaders welcomed Afghanistan as its eighth member. The leaders agreed to work together for poverty alleviation and enhance geographic, economic and people-to-people relations.
Addressing the opening session of the Summit in Bigyan Bhawan, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala talked at length about the ongoing peace process in Nepal . He said he had gambled with 60 years of his political career to bring the Maoists into political mainstream. "Now I am happy that the Maoists have joined the government," he said.
PM Koirala expressed full faith in the SAARC process laying emphasis on the alleviation of poverty by reducing inequality and utilizing abundant resources of the region.
Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had said that India realizes that it will have to bear "asymmetrical responsibilities." He said India is ready to allow duty free access to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) of SAARC. "I announce that India will gradually reduce the customs duty for LDCs in the Indian market and the same will be reduced to zero by the end of this year," he said.
Meanwhile, foreign ministers of the member states signed two separate agreements during the closing session – one on establishing SAARC Food Bank and another on commencing South Asian University . In the SAARC Food Bank, member states will keep around 200,000 tons of rice and wheat to be used during the time of natural disasters, famine and so on. The South Asia University will be set up in New Delhi . It will give preference to students from disadvantageous backgrounds from the region.
As Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh noted that "a new dawn was breaking out in South Asia ," the sea of humanity that call this region their home are looking forward to the keeping of the promises.
On the sidelines of the Summit , PM Koirala held a number of bilateral meetings with his South Asian counterparts. In his meeting with Bhutanese Prime Minister Khandu Wangchuk, Koirala urged the Bhutanese government to involve refugees in its ongoing efforts towards democratization. Likewise, he also met with Richard Boucher, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia . The senior officials of EU , US , China , South Korea and Japan had participated the Summit as observers.
