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Kathmandu Wednesday August 08, 2001 Shrawan 24, 2058.
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Good beginning
South Asian diplomats have gathered in Colombo
for a two-day meeting starting Thursday to fix the holding of the next SAARC summit. This
is the first SAARC meeting at the official level held after India refused to share the
platform with Pakistan, citing military takeover as a reason. In fact, the 11th SAARC
summit has been on hold ever since India called into question the legitimacy of the new
military regime in Pakistan. The Agra talks, though it did not make any breakthrough on
the disputed state of Kashmir, actually paved the way for the SAARC summit, besides
bringing India and Pakistan across the dialogue table. Last month, Indian Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee had invited Pakistani military dictator General Pervez Musharraf to
solve their mutual differences in the Taj City of Agra. This was done at the behest of US
president George W Bush. The US took the initiative especially to defuse tensions between
the two countries that had been nearing boiling point after both the countries conducted
tit-for-tat nuclear tests. Fortunately, the Agra summit provided some hope for the revival
of the SAARC conference.
Sensing the urgency, Sri Lanka initiated a
diplomatic move to revive the SAARC summit last December. Earlier, the Citizen’s
Commission for South Asia (CCSA) had also urged India and Pakistan to bury their
differences and reschedule the 11th SAARC summit. When we consider the bilateral
differences —bordering on enmity— between India and Pakistan, the concern for
the future of SAARC is legitimate. This apart, it is the right of the member-country to
raise concern against why the process of SAARC is stalled. However, India cited the
military take over in Pakistan as an excuse. The fate of SAARC, meant for the
socio-economic benefit of over one and half billion people, rests on the ties between
India and Pakistan. India stalled not only the process of SAARC revival but also refused
to share the platform with Pakistan for the development of the region.
The track two diplomacy initiated by the CCSA to
reschedule the 11th SAARC summit and meet the deadline for the proposed free trade area
within the SAARC too became futile due to bilateral differences between India and
Pakistan. However, South Asian countries cannot afford to sit back and let the
opportunities for economic cooperation among the SAARC member countries slip by. The SAFTA
has been under threat. So, India and Pakistan must recognize that the bilateral
differences have affected the smooth functioning of SAARC. The Colombo meet at the
official level must also recognize that the 11th SAARC summit is more important than any
Indo-Pakistan dispute.
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