Lest we forget 

By Shyam K.C.

KATHMANDU, Jan 5:The 11th SAARC summit comes to an end today and the very fact that the movement has survived for the last 16 years despite what seems to be insurmountable odds is a tribute to the founding fathers. And given the spirit that became apparent at times in the present summit despite the asides and despite some obviously uneasy moments, SAARC may yet gain the glory due to it and establish itself as a vibrant organisation.

It is now difficult to write off SAARC if only because other regional organisations and countries including powerful western industrial nations are counting on it to deliver. At a time like the present when despite the deep differences and heightened tension between India and Pakistan, the SAARC process is still continuing. It is precisely at a time like this that we must remember the continuations of our late beloved pro-poor King Birendra in bringing the regional body to fruition.

King Birendra was a farsighted leader who first proposed the concept of regional cooperation in the late 1970s. True this was with reference to the country’s water resources that could bring prosperity to the poverty stricken nations of not only the seven countries that today make up SAARC but also other countries.

The seed that King Birendra sowed during the Colombo Plan consultative meeting in Kathmandu was brought to fruition in Dhaka in December 1985 for which also King Birendra had to undertake a number of diplomatic initiatives, as not all seven countries saw eye to eye on the concept nor were they all sold top the concept.

Our late king’s faith in the regional setup, despite difficulties, was abiding and unshakable. The manner with which the late King Birendra took personal interest and initiatives for the 3rd SAARC held in the capital in 1987 had to be seen to be believed. King Birendra, like a true captain, briefed and debriefed the Nepalese team so that they knew what the country wanted from SAARC. The late King was quick with suggestions whenever there was confusion among officials over SAARC matters.

The functioning of SAARC as a regional organisation, by far the most populous in the world, was hindered in many ways including its relations with other international organisations and bodies such as those in the UN system, the EU and the ASEAN. Wisely it was realised that SAARC cannot exist in isolation and has to develop working relationship with others. But even now there is much that needs to be done in this direction.

Truly because of the frequent misunderstanding and tension between India and Pakistan, SAARC has not been able to attain its full potentials. But the peoples of the region hope the one day it will for their common benefit. That journey towards South Asian prosperity may be long and arduous but a journey, nonetheless, that must be undertaken. Lest we forget, the contributions of the late King Birendra in the development of SAARC as a regional body will remain etched in golden letters in each Nepali heart.

Leaders call for revitalising SAARC

By Damakant Jayshi

KATHMANDU, Jan 5:The 11th SAARC Summit opened on Saturday, with all the seven heads of state or government underlining the need to revitalise the paralysed seven-nation regional grouping of 16 years.

In fact, leader after leader as well as the outgoing SAARC Secretary General underscored this stark reality: that SAARC has failed to deliver. Perhaps the most telling comment came from Khaleda Zia, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Mentioning five constraints that have not allowed SAARC to enjoy a smooth run, she said, "SAARC is yet to formulate, let alone implement, a single regional project." She also described the decision-making process in SAARC a "slow".

Prime Minister of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba, in his inaugural reamrks urged for an enhanced level of co-operation, and stressed on poverty reduction which all the leaders during their addresses said was still a neglected area. He reiterated further strengthening and empowering of the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu.

Even Prime Minister of India Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf toed the same line. While Vajpayee lamented that the report of the poverty commission has not been implemented, Musharraf observed that SAARC has not been able to develop into its full potential. Sri Lankan President Chandrika B Kumaratunga went a step further by admitting "we have failed our people" in meeting their expectations.

While each of the leaders condemned the growing menace of terrorism, Kumaratunga made a most telling observation. "Everyone of our nations has experienced the horror and pain of terrorist violence either emanating from within or from a neighbouring state…We cannot encourage and finance friendly terrorist organisations in one place and attempt to defeat others."

In their addresses, both Deuba and Zia urged special considerations for the least developed countries in the regional grouping. Deuba, who is the Chairperson of SAARC now, noted that the points raised by all the leaders would be given due consideration and would be reflected in the Summit declaration.

All the seven heads of state or government also made several important recommendations. President Musharraf made two very important suggestions that could well alter the character of the seven-nation regional grouping.

Gen. Musharraf said that the Summit be held every year and in this connection proposed that Pakistan was ready to host the next one in 2003. The Pakistani President also suggested that even if the heads of state or government of one or two members do not find it convenient to attend, the Summit should go ahead on schedule. He said that SAARC must develop a mechanism to address all contentious issues of member states.

The SAARC charter has the provision of annual summits but makes it mandatory that all Heads of State must be present for the summit to go ahead. And no bilateral and contentious issues are discussed formally.

"It is unfortunate that the delay was caused by factors extraneous to both the association and its charter," said Musharraf, referring to the delayed 11th Summit that was scheduled to be held in November 1999. India had refused to participate then. "No member should be allowed to hold SAARC to ransom," added the President.

Another proposal of Gen. Musharraf was to reconsider the duration and formats of summits to make it more business-like. "The exchanges at the retreat should be allocated more time; perhaps ceremonies may be curtailed." He later earned a thunderous applause from the audience for "extending (his) hand of genuine friendship" and making it a point to walk towards Indian PM Vajpayee and shaking hands with him.

The impact of the handshake was so great that the video cameramen and photographers hurriedly pulled out their tapes and films to send them outside to be able to be the first one to flash "the handshake".

Earlier, the inaugural session was delayed today due to the late arrival of Sri Lankan President Kumaratunga at the Birendra International Convention Centre (BICC), the venue of the summit. And even after Kumaratunga’s arrival, it took nearly 30 minutes for the leaders to come on to the stage of the main auditorium of the BICC.

Once the seven leaders took their place on the podium after a traditional band welcomed them, 11 Brahmin boys in traditional dress chanted Vedic hymns for peace. President Kumaratunga handed over the Chair to PM Deuba. A minute of silence in memory of late King Birendra and members of the royal family was observed. All the leaders paid glorious tributes to the contribution of the late Monarch, one of the founding fathers of the regional grouping. Other rituals like playing of Nepal’s national anthem and lighting of the lamp by PM Deuba were also performed. At the end, the PM also declared adoption of several reports and recommendations, the chief among them being that of 21st and 22nd Council of Ministers, Group of Eminent Persons, and reports of different groups of ministers since the last Summit in Colombo.

The inaugural session was attended by Nepal’s ex-PMs, lawmakers, constitutional body chiefs and many special invitees, among others. Meanwhile, despite the Indo-Pak tension and verbal duel dominating the now reduced two-day summit, Finance Minister and officiating Foreign Minister, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, expressed satisfaction at the "progresses" made during the 11th Summit. He said most of the events of the Summit were over. Briefing the press about the activities so far, Dr Mahat said that everything was decided by consensus. "There was no tension that you see outside." Asked to point out the achievements, the Finance Minister said the fact that the Summit could took place at all in the prevailing situation in the region in itself was the biggest achievement. He also pointed out that all the recommendations of the SSARC Council of Ministers have been accepted by Summit leaders.

A significant decision, said the minister, was reconstituting the regional poverty commission. The Summit leaders also directed the SAARC Secretariat and the Council of Ministers that all the implementable programmes be carried out within a fixed time frame.

Dr Mahat revealed that a mini version of the cancelled retreat at Nagarkot scheduled for today was held at the Soaltee hotel. During the mini retreat, the leaders discussed common regional issues. Indian PM, conspicuous by his absence, was represented by his Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh. No reason was given for Vajpayee’s absence. Dr Mahat refuted that Indo-Pak tension has hijacked the summit.

Tomorrow the Summit concludes at the same venue.

‘Hand of friendship’ raises and dashes hopes

By Suman Pradhan

KATHMANDU, Jan 5:The picture of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf shaking hands at the inauguration Saturday of the 11th SAARC summit has already been splashed across newspaper front pages around the world. But contrary to the hopes raised by the handshake, the two leaders have failed to cool tensions in their bilateral relations.

As of now, there is no indication that a Vajpayee-Musharraf bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the SAARC summit will take place. Judging by India’s position, such a meeting has no chance of occurring in Kathmandu.

However, some conflicting reports did emerge towards the evening that India and Pakistan had at least talked at the Foreign Minster’s level at the "mini retreat" at Hotel Soaltee. Prime Minister Vajpayee, who did not attend the retreat, sent the Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh as his representative to the mini retreat.

Later, citing Indian and Pakistani officials, CNN reported that Mr Singh had held a brief meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar. An Indian diplomat even said that the two ministers did not discuss anything substantial during the meeting. But soon after the report aired, it was denied by Indian officials. Some Pakistani officials however continued to confirm it.

Whatever the case, the world’s hopes that the two regional rivals should cool down tensions during the SAARC summit has not yet materialized. And it appears that it won’t materialize any time soon, at least until the elections in India’s Uttar Pradesh state is over.

But that was not how Saturday began. The day started on a promising note when President Musharraf extended a hand of friendship to India at the inaugural function at the Birendra International Convention Centre.

"I extend a hand of genuine and sincere friendship to Prime Minister Vajpayee," President Musharraf said. "Let us together commence a journey of peace, harmony and progress in South Asia."

President Musharraf then walked straight to the Indian leader and extended his hand, which was accepted with a feeble smile. The audience joined in with a thunderous applause. But, less than an hour later when it was Prime Minister Vajpayee’s turn to speak, he snubbed the Pakistani leader.

In strong words, Vajpayee condemned Pakistan’s alleged support for terrorist attacks on Indian soil, and urged the Pakistani leader to follow up on his offer of friendship.

"I am glad that President Musharraf extended a hand of friendship to me," the Indian Prime Minister said. "I have shaken his hand in your presence. Now President Musharraf must follow this gesture by not permitting any activity in Pakistan or any territory it controls today which enables terrorists to perpetrate mindless violence in India."

Then in a moment heavy with expectation, Prime Minister Vajpayee shook hands with all the SAARC leaders assembled on the podium, but pointedly ignored President Musharraf. Later in the day, Prime Minister Vajpayee also did not attend the mini summit at Hotel Soaltee. In the absence of a formal reason, speculation here is rife that he wanted to avoid meeting President Musharraf.

After the mini retreat, Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh reiterated what Mr Vajpayee had said earlier, mainly that Pakistan must do more to create a conducive environment for talks.

India-Pakistan relations continues to be at its lowest in years.

Club Himalaya reels as SAARC retreat gets aborted

By Seema A Adhikari

KATHMANDU, Jan 5 – People have suffered a lot during the regional jamboree of South Asia, which kicked off here today.

Commuters faced serious problem for days as the government decided to ban all the public buses, mini-buses and three-wheelers from plying on the main thoroughfares of the capital. But the Club Himalaya resort in Nagarkot has become the hardest hit, not due to the Summit, because of the last-minute cancellation of one of the programmes of the Summit.

The seven hundred thousand rupees Mitra Bhattarai spent in decoration of his Club Himalaya turned into dust after he heard that the 42 VVIP delegates from the seven South Asian heads of state and government’s trip to the resort was unexpectedly cancelled.

The Saturday’s retreat was cancelled in the afternoon Friday due to the postponement of the inaugural ceremony of the Summit. The opening of the Summit had to be postponed due to the late arrival of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Bhattarai, executive manager of the hill resort, said that not only Club Himalaya, the whole Nagarkot was cleaned up, decorated and the roads were widened in several places on the way to Nagarkot, but it all went in vain.

"We tried our best in every way possible but all turned meaningless," Bhattarai said. "People of Nagarkot are really very upset because they didn’t leave a single corner dirty."

"We had started preparing for the retreat five weeks ago," Bhattarai expressed his anger. "I will claim all the loss from the Ministry of Foreign affairs."

According to Bhattarai, seven sofas in the dining hall were changed because they were informed that Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee needs hard sofas, instead of the soft ones. "We even planned to welcome the delegates with flower bouquets, which we bought at Rs. 27,000," he said.

The special menu was prepared for the cost of Rs. 1,300 per person. The food habit of the heads of the state and government was thoroughly studied before preparing the menu. The food was prepared as per the choice of the delegates. Meanwhile, Nepali Dal Bhaat was also prepared for their different taste.

The whole hotel was repainted with expensive colours, plaster of Paris and was redecorated with most expensive lights and carpets, according to Bhattarai.

"We were not informed officially until 3 p.m. on Friday about the cancellation of the programme," complains Bhattarai. "After hearing the news, I felt like falling from the roof."

This incident will paint one darker picture on the already-crippled tourism industry of Nepal, he further said. The number of tourists to visit Nagarkot this season had already gone down sharply, raising the worries among the hotel entrepreneurs. The retreat would have had the positive impact on boosting the tourism industry.

Even in 1999, the government had planned to bring the foreign dignitaries to the Club Himalaya for retreat but the Summit had to be cancelled.

One thing that everyone says at present is the foreign dignitaries missed the opportunity to see the mountains from the beautiful hill station of Nagarkot.

Club Himalaya resort was recently mentioned in the Hot Spot column of the world-renowned TIME magazine, as one of the best resorts in the region.

Recommendations made by the SAARC leaders

BANGLADESH – Prime Minister Begum Khalida Zia

SAARC is yet to formulate, let alone implement, a single regional project.

n The bottom line in summing up SAARC’s achievements consists of three factors – to consolidate our past gains, to move firmly towards the implementation of SAARC initiatives; keeping in mind the need for a regional focus and orientation; and to find the resolve to take new decisions.

n We also equally believe that all future SAARC trade initiatives should reduce asymmetry in trade exchanges and bilateral trade imbalances.

n Our effort should be directed towards an inclusive globalisation from below, which will benefit common people through new ideas, opportunities and technologies.

n To meet the challenges of the South Asian Region, I would like to propose the following specific eight-point agenda – to utilise new ideas and techniques generated by information technology; to implement studies by South Asian think-tanks leading to concrete action; to activate the SADF with a minimum capital of US $ 500 million to finance development related activities in the least developed areas of South Asia; to implement the Plan of Action of the Mate Environment Ministers Meeting and recommendations of the two SAARC studies on environment; to implement the SAARC agenda on poverty eradication without any further loss of time; to strengthen individually and collectively, social issues which economic growth might by-pass, especially relating to women and children; to encourage greater involvement of non-state actors; and to adopt a Regional Investment Agreement.

BHUTAN – Prime Minister Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk

n If the South Asian region is to make reasonable headway in addressing widespread poverty, then we must begin to tap the most precious resource, the abundant people of South Asia.

n The number and variety of activities carried out under the SAARC umbrella is proof of our efforts to promote regional co-operation.

n While national plans must respond to country-specific priorities, an increasing number of them could be addressed through a well-co-ordinated regional approach.

INDIA – Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee

n What we need today is the dose of maturity which would lead SAARC from adolescence to adulthood.

n Some months ago, I wrote to a South Asian colleague, reminding him that the common enemy of our two countries is poverty and inviting him to take with us the high road of co-operation and reconciliation to satisfy the shared aspirations of our people.

n From this forum today, I make the appeal to all the leaders of South Asia: let us jointly declare war on the poverty, which afflicts about half a billion people in our region alone. Let us develop regional poverty alleviation programmes.

n The Poverty Commission still exists; let it be revived and reconvened to update and flesh out its 1992 report.

n We have to take difficult decisions to reconcile the pace of our liberalisation with the needs of our nascent industries and equitable development. 

n We would be betraying the expectations of our peoples if we did not chart out a course towards satisfying the unfulfilled promises of our common South Asian destiny.

MALDIVES – President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom

n It is time to move beyond the realm of words to the reality of concrete action.

n Something more effective than the three-tier mechanism is needed in order to mobilise the people against poverty and towards social development.

n The social charter that we are working on should identify a dimension of action for SAARC as a whole, as well as specific measures for member states.

n At a time when there are heightening international security concerns and an economic recession is in the making, SAARC must rise to the challenges that we face today.

NEPAL – Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba

n In Nepal’s view, poverty reduction must be our foremost priority. We must expand production and markets, increase trade, raise incomes and consumption, 29 well as adopt pro-poor policies.

n We should finalise the SAFTA framework treaty, and fix the priority and sequencing of its execution.

n It is time to adopt a visionary goal of establishing the South Asian economic union.

n We need to expedite enabling legislations that will facilitate the implementation of the SAARC regional convention on suppression of terrorism.

n Nepal committed, to peace as it is, would like to propose that we establish a SAARC Peace Award to honour the exemplary work of individuals and organisations to promote peace, understanding, friendship, and development in the region.

PAKISTAN – President Gen. Parvez Musharraf

n SAARC summits once scheduled, after obtaining the concurrence of all the member states, must go ahead even if the heads of state or government of one or two members do not find it convenient to attend. No member should be allowed to hold SAARC to ransom.

n Using internal developments in one Member State to disrupt the SAARC process should be unacceptable.

n It would not be appropriate to embark on the road to SAFTA without completing a comprehensive study on all aspects of this very complex venture.

n I would propose a reconsideration of the duration and format of summits and other meeting in order to making them more business like.

n The exchanges at the retreat should be allocated more time, perhaps ceremonies may be curtailed.

n It is equally important that a distinction is maintained between acts of legitimate resistance and freedom struggles on the one had and acts of terrorism on the other.

n My government remains ready to engage in a serious and sustained dialogue with India at all times and all levels. Peace and tranquillity between Pakistan and India are essential for progress in South Asia.

SRI LANKA – President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumratunga

n A specific area where collective action, backed by strong political will, needs to be taken with a sense of urgency is the elimination of terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering and the illegal movement of both weapons and terrorist elements.

n To fight the wave of terrorism, it may not be sufficient to say, that we will hunt down the perpetrators of terror and their allies.

n We cannot encourage and finance friendly terrorist organisations in one place and attempt to defeat others. Double standards cannot work anymore, and will not resolve the long-standing problem of terrorism.

n Today I believe that the challenge before us nationally and regionally, is to recognise terror and political violence as the main enemy of modern society.

n We also need to mobilise those young people in every nation who have taken up arms and taken to terrorism against civil society and the State.

n If I may say a word about SAARC, the important lesson that we have learnt from the relative inactivity of our Organisation during the last three and a half years is that the work of SAARC should not be held back under any circumstances. It is necessary that the bodies of SAARC, particularly the Summit, should meet unhindered by bilateral problems between members.