|
|||
|
|
|||
|
COVER STORY |
SAARC SUMMIT Even after 10 summits in 16
years, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which represents more
than 1.5 billion people, half of them living below the poverty line, is not free from
internal disputes. The organization has seen many ups and downs because of political and
other differences among its seven members. As the SAARC charter is based on the principle
of consensus, all member states have to grant their assent before a summit can be held.
Over the past three years, regional leaders have put off their meeting for various
reasons. The current dispute between the two largest members of SAARC has cast a long
shadow over its core objective of collective self-reliance. The organization finds itself
at the crossroads. By KESHAB POUDEL The uncertainty generated by the latest
flare-up of tensions between India and Pakistan continues to cast a long shadow over the
11th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Many South
Asians recall how a summit had to be postponed at the last minute after the Bhutanese King
expressed his inability to attend on health grounds. If analysts and lay observers in the
region are not willing to rule out a similar 11th hour announcement this time, they are
only relying on experience.
Tensions along the India-Pakistan
border have not subsided in any significant way. But neither country seems to be on the
verge of war, either. Pakistanís decision to arrest key Kashmiri militant leaders who
India accuses of masterminding the December 13 terrorist attack on parliament in New Delhi
has prompted a cautious welcome by Indian leaders. The first signs of a bilateral thaw
have understandably raised hopes for the summit. From the moment it was conceived 16 years
ago in an uncertain scenario, SAARC has had to walk a tightrope. "There are many
differences among South Asian countries on various issues and Nepal needs to take special
care to bring all of them together," says former foreign minister Prakash Chandra
Lohani. "The forthcoming SAARC summit will be a good opportunity for the leaders of
SAARC to ease the tensions." Although the traditional rivalry between
India and Pakistan has often disturbed the SAARC process, neither country is in a position
to ignore the value of the concept of regional cooperation. To begin with, India was not
favorable to the idea of a regional cooperative venture in South Asia. Its original
response to Bangladeshís working paper proposing the formation of SAARC was, at
best, lukewarm. The ruling elite in New Delhi considered that such an organization would
trap India into a pro-Western strategic consensus and accordingly force it to endorse the
renewal and approval of Pakistan-US military ties. With reservations, however, India
ultimately joined SAARC in 1985. "If we believe that regional
cooperation is a necessity, then the concerned parties should try to ensure that their
bilateral disputes would not hold hostage the regional process," says former foreign
minister Kamal Thapa. "Moreover, a summit like this provides an opportunity for
consultation and dialogue. India and Pakistan should utilize the SAARC summit to narrow
their differences."
As in other parts of the world,
regional cooperation has been difficult to achieve in South Asia. In the early days, the
Cold War rivalry of the super powers disturbed the development of the region. India was
firmly allied with the Soviet Union, while Pakistan and other nations were in the camp led
by the United States. Although the countries of South Asia have
many similarities and are geographically close to each other, internal disputes influenced
by external factor have stood in the way of smooth relations. Even after the end of Cold
War, the difficult relations between India and China have affected the region. Moreover,
there are many differences among SAARC member countries. "The steady and slow process of growth
is understandable, as the relations among South Asian countries have always been based on
suspicion, fear and disputes," says a Kathmandu-based analyst. "There have been
four conflicts between India and Pakistan since 1947, clashes on the Indo-Bangladesh
border, and other disputes among the other countries." But member states realized from the
beginning that they should explore areas of cooperation that would benefit the entire
region. And not everything has gone wrong. In the area of water resources, for instance,
the region has developed a mechanism for peaceful conflict resolution.
"When SAARC was established in
the mid-1980s to provide a forum for discussion primarily on trade, contentious topics
like water resources negotiations were totally excluded from its brief. Yet, South Asia
has a commendable record in the area of water-sharing, developed through a combination of
civil society pressure, political sagacity and technical cooperation," prominent
analyst Sanjoy Hazarika writes in his article "South Asia: Sharing the Giants". The Indus Waters Treaty, signed between
India and Pakistan in 1960, is a landmark as far as water disputes are concerned. Brokered
by the World Bank, the treaty, which covers the largest irrigated area (26 million acres)
of any one river system in the world, has survived two wars and has ongoing mechanism for
consultation and conflict resolution through inspections, exchange of data and visits. The
treaty demonstrates how functional cooperation on both sides is not impossible to achieve,
though most other contentious issues remain deadlocked. In December 1996, India and Bangladesh
decided to resolve decades of deadlock over the sharing of the waters from the Ganges, one
of the culturally and economically significant rivers on earth. Although Nepal and India
signed the Mahakali River Treaty to settle their disputes, the treaty has run into
opposition from various Nepalese groups, who claim it is unfair to the country's
interests. Infrastructure There is great potential to increase trade
volume and broaden economic cooperation. Prior to the partition of British India in 1947,
the different parts of South Asia were more or less linked through 8,000 kilometers of
inland waterways and a few kilometers of railways. If there is peace and understanding
among the countries of region, there is a vast possibility to link the region by air, rail
and road. The need for increased economic cooperation
among geographically contiguous countries has been a dominant feature of the global
political economy ever since the emergence of the European Economic Community (EEC) in the
1950s and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the 1960s. The rationale
for such cooperation has been strengthened further in the 1990s by the emergence of
regional trading blocs like the European Union and the North American Free Trade Area. Although SAARC was also born to advance
regional cooperation in the economic sector, it is yet to fully achieve its objectives. In
terms of poverty alleviation, the countries of the region have already started a program.
The South Asian response to trading blocs has not resulted in any concrete achievements,
yet efforts to gear up the tempo of cooperation are going on. East and Southeast Asian countries, which
have recently achieved unprecedented rates of economic growth, were the first Asian states
to experiment with such cooperative designs. The growth dynamism in East and Southeast
Asia based on effective cooperation provides the necessary impetus for such cooperation in
other parts of the world. The European Unionís introduction of a single currency at the
beginning of this year has focused attention on the strides other regions have made in
collective action. South Asians understand that if Germany and France, despite their
historical differences, can agree on the euro, there is no reason for them to give up
hope. Meeting Proceedings Despite tensions between India and
Pakistan, the first phase of the 11th SAARC summit preparatory meetings were held without
any differences between the two countries. This was possible also because the SAARC
charter does not permit the raising of bilateral disputes in the regional forum. The SAARC
standing committee meeting endorsed nine areas for regional cooperation, including women
empowerment and poverty alleviation. The meeting also agreed to take a common approach to
deal with terrorism in South Asia. After two rounds of official-level talks
concluded without dispute, paving the way for ministerial meetings, prospects for the
summit increased. "We have received confirmation of participation from all the
leaders of the SAARC region. There is no question of a postponement," said Minister
of State for Foreign Affairs Arjun Jung Bahadur Singh. Reinventing SAARC It is necessary to re-invent SAARC's
regional agenda in the new era of multipolarity and globalization. Enhancing dialogue
between the countries of South Asia, thus improving mutual understanding, would be a
feasible way to end the unstable situation. For this, the leaders of the region need to
identify the areas of cooperation and need to develop understanding. "It is about time that we reviewed our
past performance and concentrated on a few core areas like trade, water resources,
transport and tourism. Combating terrorism should be another area of our focus," says
former foreign minister Thapa. The disputes among SAARC countries need to
be tackled effectively before the organization can be expected to make tangible progress.
As a big country bordering five SAARC countries, India's position would determine the
future of SAARC. Unlike the European Union, SAARC is yet to pick up speed in a way
perceptible to the people. Political and security dimensions of the region, the future of
the South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) and the South Asian Free Trade
Area are important items on the agenda. Regionalism in South Asia is not a new
phenomenon. But, unsurprisingly, internal differences over the modalities of promoting
SAARC do exist in the region. The 11th SAARC summit needs to re-evaluate whether the
organization needs certain modifications. History of the Region One factor impeding SAARC is history.
Unlike other regional groups, South Asia has a very recent history in terms of nation
states. Five out of seven nations of the region were colonized and became independent
within the last five decades, the exceptions being Nepal and Bhutan. All seven are
developing nations in different stages of progress. With a large number of people living
below the poverty line, low literacy rate and high infant mortality rate, among other
things, the governments in the region have to bury their differences to overcome what is
undoubtedly a formidable collective challenge. South Asia is gripped by terrorism,
insurgency and other turbulence. Six of the seven SAARC countries — with the
exception of Maldives — have been facing terrorism problems of one kind or the other.
However, unlike during the Cold War, the international political environment is conducive
to easing tension among member states. After the September 11 terrorist attacks in
New York City and Washington DC, the situation has drastically changed. No country can
expect to sponsor terrorism in any form in other countries. Whether in small countries
like Nepal, Bhutan or Sri Lanka or in big countries like India or Pakistan, terrorism has
inflicted tremendous damage on economic upliftment programs. "The differences and disputes between
India and Pakistan have tremendously affected the SAARC process in the past and definitely
the present crisis will have some negative impact on the future of the organization,"
says Dhruba Kumar, a professor at Tribhuvan University. Regional Challenge One of the major challenges of the reason
is the burgeoning population living below the poverty line. According to the South Asian
Poverty Alleviation Program, the absolute number of people in the region living on less
than dollar a day has increased from just under 500 million in 1990 over 520 million in
1998.This is going to be a major problem for the region. South Asian governments require a
certain level understanding to solve their common problem. Since the formation of SAARC, the world
scenario has changed drastically. India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons in the spring
of 1998. The distrust spawned by similar events has delayed the process of regional
cooperation. According to the World Development Report
2002 prepared by the World Bank, Bangladesh has a per-capita income of $380, life
expectancy of 61, under-five mortality of 89 per 1000, adult literacy rate of 59 and 35.6
percent of the people below the poverty line. India has a per-capita income of $460, life
expectancy of 63, adult literacy rate of 56 percent and 35 percent of the population below
the poverty line. Nepal has a per capita income of $220, life expectancy of 58 and adult
literacy rate of 40 percent. Pakistan has a per capita income of $470, adult literacy rate
of 45 percent, and 34 percent of the people below the poverty line. Sri Lanka has a per
capita income of $870, a literacy rate of 91 percent and 25 percent of the population
below the poverty line. Bhutan and the Maldives also face a similar situation. Although in percentage terms, poverty has
decreased marginally in South Asia, the region nevertheless has the largest share of the
world's poor, comprising around 40 percent of its population of 1.35 billion. Poverty
alleviation, therefore, remains a social, economic, political priority for the member
states of SAARC. In the sixth SAARC summit in Colombo, South Asian leaders proposed a
poverty alleviation program. In 1994, the United Nations Development
Program initiated its South Asia Poverty Alleviation Program. This was a response to the
Dhaka SAARC summit declaration in April 1993, which affirmed the strong political
commitment of South Asian heads of state and government to eradicate the worst forms of
poverty from the region by the year 2002. Like the geographical terrain of South Asia
— which comprises mountains, seas, and cold and warm zones — SAARC is full of
diversity, which creates turbulence at the time of the summits. The eve of the 11th SAARC
summit is characterized by a level of uncertainty that could go on to affect the
future of the organization. The time has come for the leaders of the region to show that
they are really sincere to the cause of regional cooperation, and not content with
maintaining SAARC as the talking shop it critics have so often accused it of being. Evolution of SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) is one of the more recent attempts to organize a regional bloc among
developing countries. The idea of South Asian Regional Cooperation (SARC) was first
proposed by the government of Bangladesh in November 1980 (SAARC, 1988). It was developed
further in seven meetings of foreign ministry officials of the seven South Asian countries
held during 1981-83, resulting in a Declaration on SARC by the foreign ministers in August
1983. Two more meetings of the foreign ministers led to the first South Asian summit in
December 1985, which formally set up SAARC by endorsing the SAARC charter. SAARC Summits: Where and When? 1. Dhaka, Bangladesh 1985 2. Banglore, India 1986 3. Kathmandu, Nepal 1987 4. Islamabad, Pakistan 1988 5. Male, Maldives 1990 6. Colombo, Sri Lanka 1992 7. Dhaka, Bangladesh 1993 8. New Delhi, India 1994 9. Islamabad, Pakistan 1996 10. Colombo, Sri Lanka 1998 11. Kathmandu, Nepal 2002 |
| Coverstory
| Koirala's
Consensus Call | Occupational
Safety | Intellectual
Debate | View
Point | |
Send your feedback to the
editor: spotligh@mos.com.np |
