SAARC ministers take up economic issues

By Damakant Jayshi

KATHMANDU, Jan 2 - Nepal presented a paper on poverty alleviation at the 22nd SAARC Council of Ministers’ (CoM) meeting on Wednesday that was dominated by social and economic issues.

A Foreign Ministry official told The Kathmandu Post that Nepal suggested for a regional strategy to be developed to eradicate poverty from the region in view of globalisation. For this purpose, Nepal proposed a quicker dismantling of trade barriers and also sought a common regional approach on employment and health, among other key issues.

Nepal suggested other member states to develop new areas of co-operation in micro credit, institutional development, modernisation of agriculture, improvement in service areas, decentralisation, and participation of poor in developmental activities, among others.

Nepal also recommended that the SAARC Secretariat be equipped with modern facilities to enable it to play a more effective role. The official said that Nepal proposed that the SAARC Secretary General be empowered to form an experts’ group to advise him on ways to strengthen SAARC as an institution.

Briefing the media today, Pushkar Rajbhandari, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson for the 11th SAARC Summit, quoted Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat as telling the ministers that they were meeting in Kathmandu at a special juncture in "the history of human civilisation". Mahat was representing Nepal in the meeting of Foreign Ministers as the Prime Minister usually holds the Foreign Affairs portfolio in Nepal’s context.

Dr Mahat asked the member countries to rise to the occasion and "reaffirm our determination to take decisive forward movement in a collective way to keep pace with the rest of the world".

He also urged the ministers to enter into core economic issues early on. Previously, both Dr Mahat and Nepalese Foreign Ministry officials have been stressing that Nepal would endeavour to make SAARC more business-like and futuristic, especially with regard to integrated economic co-operation.

The Finance Minister stressed that holding the next round of SAPTA negotiations, finalising SAFTA (by the end of 2002), transport facilitation and regional energy grid are the important issues to be settled. He added that issues like timep-bound poverty reduction, empowerment of women, welfare of children and the scourge of terrorism deserve deliberations and appropriate conclusions.

Spokesperson Rajbhandari also informed that a moment of silence was observed in memory of late King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and other members of the Royal Family who died in a shootout June last year.

The CoM also adopted the agenda of the two-day meeting. The agenda before the CoM were economic issues that include review of intra-regional economic co-operation, common position on WTO and trade fairs; reviewing regional mechanism and co-operation on poverty alleviation; SAARC social charter; issues relating to women, children and health; and the two conventions that are likely to be signed by the seven heads of state and government.

The conventions are SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia and SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Crime against Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution.

At today’s meeting, the Foreign Secretary-level Standing Committee presented its report to the CoM after three days of deliberations. The outgoing SAARC Secretary General Nihal Rodrigo, whose term had been extended for 10 days until January 10, presented his analytical report on how to strengthen SAARC and develop its institutions.

The SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry also presented its report on the activities it had undertaken with regard to the SAARC process.

Meanwhile, Q.A.M.A. Rahim of Bangladesh has been confirmed as the next Secretary General by the CoM.

Describing the mood at the meeting, Rajbhandari said it was all in "a very good tone". He revealed that both the Indian and Pakistani Foreign Ministers shook hands and smiled at each other. "The ministers seemed happy," said Rajbhandari. There was also an informal meeting for about 20 minutes as is the SAARC custom.

Earlier at the airport, India’s Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh declined to tell The Kathmandu Post whether he would hold any bilateral talks with his Pakistani counterpart Abdul Sattar on the sidelines of the Summit.

Later at the briefing by India’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nirupama Rao, she too declined to comment whether the two would meet, merely saying that India’s Foreign Minister had already spoken on the issue on Tuesday, and "I have nothing more to add to that".

Seven rebels killed, 39 arrested

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KATHMANDU, Jan 2 - In a nation-wide crackdown on the Maoist rebels today, security forces killed at least seven and rounded up 39 persons, said the Defence Ministry today. Meanwhile, a Home Ministry release said that 42 rebels surrendered in different parts of the country today.

According to a press release issued here, the Defence Ministry has said the security forces shot dead five rebels in an encounter at Daiji area of Kanchanpur district. Another rebel was killed in a similar encounter at Baniyabar area of Bardiya district today.

"Terrorist" documents and large cache of arms and bullets have been recovered from the incident sites.

Similarly, a rebel identified as Kamal Dahal who was kept in custody at Jigau area of Banke district succumbed to army bullets after he tried to escape, the release added.

Security forces also rounded up seven persons suspected of being involved in "terrorist acts" from Chitwan and Panchabati of Udaypur district. Others arrested on similar charges are six from Hile of Dhankuta district, five each from Kathmandu and Chingadh of Surkhet district, three from Palpa and two each from Hangtang of Taplejung and Noubasta of Banke.

In the army offensive against the rebels at various parts of the country, they seized at least 26 guns from the rebels, according to the release. In the operation, six guns hidden by the rebels were recovered from Gadaria area of Kailali and one person was arrested in this connection.

Similarly, five guns, bombs, rebel combat dress and explosives were seized from Budhagaon area of Rolpa district; while another security team confiscated seven guns from Eroutaar area of Ilam district, the release said.

The security forces also recovered a 3-0-3 rifle, other three guns and ammunitions—all buried underground—at Bichour area of Lamjung district. Four guns were also seized from the rebels at Chisapani area of Syangja district, and bombs, rebel combat dresses and explosives were recovered from Mudhebisana area of Okhaldhunga.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry today issued a press release saying that 42 rebels surrendered before the respective administration offices in 10 districts on Wednesday.

Among those surrendering before the administration are eight in Tanahun district; seven in Dailekh district; six in Terhathum; five each in Sindhupalchowk and Darchula; four in Myagdi; two each in Taplejung, Gulmi and Kailali districts and one in Makawanpur. Those surrendering in Kailali also handed over a home-made gun to the administration.

Similarly, a police force seized one gun and arrested one person in connection with "terrorist" acts at Kurumba VDC, Panchthar. The Ministry in the release has also said a group of Maoist rebels yesterday murdered Lilanath Adhikari, resident of Harmi VDC-8, Gorkha.

According to our correspondent in Darchula district, a group of 40 rebels hacked to death a senior Nepali Congress cadre at Naumule of Darchula. The deceased, Ganga Bahadur Tarami, who was also an RNA soldier, was killed at his own house.

Boys killed while playing with bomb

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NEPALGUNJ, Jan 2 - Two boys died instantly and at least five others sustained serious injuries while playing with a bomb reportedly left behind by the Maoist rebels in Manma-Khandachakra of Kalikot district on Wednesday, according to a local authority.

Talking over telephone, Chief District Officer, Mukunda Dhakal, said the 11 and 12-year-old boys - Khemraj Malla and Bhairab Bahadur Malla from the same area, died on the spot when the "spring" bomb they were playing with exploded near a public bath, about 15 minutes from the main market area.

The boys had gone to the spring for a bath. The boys had shifted to the district headquarters a couple of months ago. CDO Dhakal said that the rebels had left the bomb while attempting to attack the district headquarters last week.

Media conference concludes

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KATHMANDU, Jan 2 - Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today said he would back a proposal by journalists of the South Asian region to provide free movement of media persons and media products across the region in the upcoming 11th SAARC Summit.

"I will try to get your proposed protocol included in the Summit agenda," Deuba said at the end of Second South Asia Free Media Conference here Wednesday. He was referring to the protocol entitled - Free Movement of Media persons and Media products Across the South Asia Region, proposed and endorsed by the two-day conference organized by South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA).

Participated by about 150 journalists from the SAARC region, which groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the two-day conference concluded today adopting the joint declaration of "intent on media and peace". The declaration also calls for more responsible role of journalists in the war against terrorism and journalist exchange programmes, besides scores of other issues.

Earlier on the day, the participants marched through the streets of the capital calling on the governments and people of the region to uphold peace and shun violence and terrorism. The peace march started from Lazimpat and passed through Lainchaur, but could not go further around the city due to heavy security for the upcoming Summit.

The tension building up in the region in the aftermath of the December 13 terrorist attacks in the Indian parliament, terrorist violence continuing in most of the SAARC nations and ways to tackle it and promote cooperation among the nations were the major issues discussed at the conference.

Prime Minister Deuba lauded the initiative by South Asian journalists and hoped that it could go a long way in relieving the region that is increasing becoming synonymous to terrorism. He added that the unilateral breaking up of the cease-fire by so called Maoists compelled his government to mobilize the Royal Nepal Army.

The conference also elected Gopal Prasad Thapaliya as the new President of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA).

SAAFMA was formed in July 2000 in Islamabad with its first conference. The media main streaming organization aims to promote tolerance, understanding, confidence building, management and resolution of conflicts, peace, nuclear stabilization, disarmament, economic and cultural cooperation and people to people contacts in the region. SAFMA2; 402

Still a long way to go for South Asian Free Trade Area

By Bhaskar Sharma

KATHMANDU, Jan 2 - The initial target of the South Asian nations to activate the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) by 2001 did not materialise, neither did the signing of the draft treaty as later envisaged. South Asian diplomats have now pledged to complete the draft agreement by 2002, and operationalise SAFTA by 2008. But, how realistic is it?

High level officials recently said the draft treaty will not be signed during the Eleventh SAARC Summit because the member countries are unsure about the very concept of SAFTA. While that argument cannot be deemed void, there is still the question of whether all the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) members would agree on SAFTA even if they understood its whole gamut.

So far, the South Asian nations have discussed tariff concessions on more than 5500 items. But that alone is unlikely to lead the SAARC nations to what they term as "building an economic bloc". A high level diplomat at the SAARC Secretariat had recently told The Kathmandu Post, "If it took the European countries decades to form an economic bloc, it is unlikely that a similar free trade area here would materialise sooner."

The most important reason why creating a free trade area in South Asia would not be easy is due to the disparity in the stage of development among the seven countries. South Asia consists of both developing and underdeveloped nations, two of them even landlocked. As such the benefits that would accrue out of SAFTA would be different from one country to another. And that is likely to dilute the vision for a free trade area. Those SAARC members who are benefiting more with the preferential trading arrangements they have amongst each other, will not like to go for SAFTA. India has separate trading arrangements with Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, while another arrangement with Bangladesh is in the pipeline.

"All SAARC members would have liked the idea of SAFTA if that benefited more than the present trading regimes," says economist Dr Bishwambhar Pyakuryel. This partly supports the argument that difference in the development stages amongst SAARC nations may come in the way of SAFTA.

Another important stumbling block for activating SAFTA is the hostility that exists between India and Pakistan. One of the most important prerequisites for making SAFTA a reality is the need for Most Favoured Nation (MFN) facility amongst member countries. But despite the December 13 terror strike in the premises of the Indian Parliament in New Delhi that prompted India to impose sanctions against Pakistan, India continues to grant MFN facility to Pakistan. However, Pakistan does not. This is where the complication lies.

And until this complication is sorted out mutually by India and Pakistan, SAFTA will continue to linger. But it is highly unlikely that such a serious issue would be settled anywhere in the near future, given the lack of a conducive environment for talks between the two countries.

Says an independent analyst preferring to stay anonymous, "Pakistan must extend MFN treatment to India. Or else SAFTA would remain in dreams only " The only plausible way that the two countries could have come closer was in the SAARC summit where ministers from all the seven SAARC nations could have tried to broker talks between the two South Asian rivals to settle at least the economic issues, if not the political ones. But the SAARC charter clearly says that no issues of bilateral concerns could be raised at the regional forum.

"To forge ahead with the idea of a regional grouping, SAARC should also include bilateral disputes in its agenda," says Dr Pyakhurel. "At least the SAARC forum may help in narrowing down economic differences, which may ultimately bring the two countries closer even politically."

Experts are also apprehensive that a number of provisions in the South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) do not comply to WTO agreements. If the very predecessor of SAFTA does not comply to WTO norms, the chances of SAFTA materialising is thin, argue some.

There are other issues too. When even agreements reached at the national level are quashed by domestic decisions, what is the guarantee that a regional agreement will survive, questions a high level Nepali government official referring to the imposition of various state-level duties in India on Nepali products, which is against the spirit of the 1996 Nepal-India Trade Treaty.

And until and unless the host of non-tariff trade barriers that exist in the South Asian region even today is completely eliminated, and diplomats stop asking whether SAARC is with India, or is with Pakistan, SAFTA’s future will continue to hang in limbo.

CPN-ML, ML on the verge of reunion

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KATHMANDU, Jan 2 - As the reunification process between the main opposition CPN-UML and its splinter party CPN-ML is moving ahead in full swing, members of both the parties are optimistic that they will reunite within a month.

It is now already a known fact that the top leaders of the two parties have been holding marathon talks in the past three weeks to merge the two parties. A senior UML leader, Bharat Mohan Adhikary, a few weeks back had declared that the two parties would unite within three months. But reliable sources say that it is not even going to take that long.

A source preferring anonymity told The Kathmandu Post that the unification process otherwise complete, is now stuck on the number of seats that ML would get in the Central Committee (CC) of the "reunited UML" and also on the choice of individuals that would get into the CC.

"In the last meeting between the two leaders (Madhav Kumar Nepal and Bam Dev Gautam) Gautam was adamant that the ML had to get at least 21 seats in the CC of the united party and that Nepal was bargaining to give only 14," the source said. He also said that Nepal had proposed he would choose the 14 members, which Gautam rejected outright. The source was quick to add that that this was only a "bargaining process" and that the UML was ready to give the 21 seats as committed.

It was earlier claimed that the ML had demanded 40 per cent of the seats of the 43- member CC so that it would not be on a weak ground if another split takes place. Regulations require that if a group within a party wants to split, then it needs to have the support of at least 40 percent members of the Central Committee.

This is the factor, it is said, that’s keeping the UML leaders from giving ML more than one third of the seats.

It is also learnt that strong groups within the UML have criticised the nomination proposal put forward by Nepal, and that many leaders are sceptical about the whole process fearing that they will lose their hold in the party after unification.

"The unification should be strictly in terms of principle and code of conduct," said Khadka Prasad Oli, an influential UML leader.

Meanwhile, another source adds that ML leader CP Mainali, who had all along been opposed to the idea of unification and who had once talked of forming a new party, was now giving the unification idea a serious thought. "Mainali has been seriously thinking about this as other leaders have told him that mistakes made earlier will not be repeated," the source said.

Poudel hopes SAARC will thaw Indo-Pak tension

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KATHMANDU, Jan 2 - Former Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel today expressed hope that the SAARC Summit will put "moral and psychological pressure" on Pakistan and India to ease tensions between them.

As the regional grouping is facing a crisis, there is a need for strengthening the ties among the member countries, Poudel said. "There should be co-operation based on freedom and justice."

He also urged the upcoming Summit to work towards making South Asia a democratic and peaceful region. "The Summit should play a role in creating a democratic environment in the region."

Poudel was speaking at a programme on "SAARC: Achievement, Challenge, and Possibility" organised by the Nepal Students Union (NSU), a wing of the ruling Nepali Congress.

Prakash Sharan Mahat, economic advisor to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, said the solidarity of the regional grouping is dependent on its economic integrity. "When economic relation between the member countries becomes strong, tension and crisis among the countries will automatically ease," he said.

Former SAARC Secretary General Yadav Kanta Silwal reiterated his stance that the time has come to "raise even the contentious bilateral issues" at the Summit, although the SAARC Charter rules it out.

Silwal also expressed his opinion on adding new members in the regional bloc. "We can include other countries in the SAARC after it becomes mature."

President of the NSU, Biswa Prakash Sharma, informed that the NSU has recently decided to form a common regional forum of students in the region. "The NSU will take the lead in establishing such a regional students’ forum," Sharma said.