View Point (Spotlight Weekly)

PROMOTING REGIONAL COOPERATION

By SHAUKAT AZIZ, Prime Minister of Pakistan

The topic of my presentation today- Pakistan's role in promoting regional cooperation- is really and apt description of my current visit to the South Asian region beginning with the Kingdom of Nepal. As the serving Chairman of SAARC, it is my honour to visit all member states for consultations with my colleagues, with the overarching objective of promoting greater regional cooperation. I undertake this mission with the full conviction that cooperation within the SAARC family is not just a desirable goal but a vital shared objective. The future well being of peoples of South Asia depends upon what we are able to achieve today.

Before proceeding further, I would like to take this opportunity to underscore the importance that Pakistan attaches to its relations wit the Kingdom of Nepal. We fully support and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of this country. We oppose any form of interference in the internal affairs of Nepal. Our two countries share similar if not identical views on regional and international issues. Pakistan remains keen to promote relations in political, economic, commercial, educational and cultural spheres. And we remain prepared to extend any assistance that Nepal may require which is within our means.

Turning to the issue of promoting regional cooperation, it is important to begin by taking stock of existence realities. South Asia is home to over a billion people. Our region is rich in natural and human resources. Yet we remain mired in abject poverty. On the human development index scale, our countries are amongst the lowest. Millions of our people are living under the poverty line. Many do not have access to clean drinking water. Hundreds of thousands are homeless. Availability of education and jobs is a distant dream even for those thousands living in our cities, let alone those in the poorer rural areas.

It is tragic that even as we enter the 21st century, the peoples of South Asia are struggling to survive even though our countries spend billions on armaments in the elusive search for security. No doubt ensuring national security is of paramount concern for every country. But we must recognize that ensuring human security is no less important.

Given that resources within and among nations are finite and unequal, no one country can prosper indefinitely without cooperating with others. It is true that the developed and more powerful countries have control over a greater share of the world economy. However, in the age of globalization, islands of peace and prosperity cannot coexist for long within oceans of instability and poverty. Poverty is deprivation in any form of lack of vaccine, food and security, rights and education.

The countries of South Asia would prefer to overcome their poverty through economic development based on expansion of their economics and trade and not depend only on aid. So far we have been subjected to a highly discriminatory international trading regime that has favoured the developed world. As the president of Pakistan stated in his speech at the UN General Assembly last month, "We need more than a level playing field; we need a field tilted in favour of the developing countries".

But is not enough to look to others of deliverance. In the final analysis, we must look within ourselves and seek solutions to our problems through our own efforts. Inspired by the truth that charity begins at home, Pakistan has embarked on an ambitious programme to provide for the country's progress and prosperity.

The highest priority in our national agenda is the acceleration of growth of our economy and translating the gains achieved so fat in terms of macro-economic stability to enriching the lives of our people.

It is a matter of satisfaction for us that our economic reform policies are beginning to bear fruit. We are targeting 6% growth rate in the coming year. Our stock markets are buoyant; interest rates have come down; investments and productivity have increased; exports and foreign exchange reserves are growing. We see the emergence of a growing middle class adding to a gradual improvement in standard of living.

We have positioned ourselves to benefit from the processes of globalization. We are building links with the important and productive economic processes shaping the economic landscape of Asia. Our East Asia Vision envisages closer cooperation with North and South East Asian countries as ell as ASEAN.

We are equally involved in fortifying further our economic relations with China. We also wish to build strong cooperative ties with members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

We realize the importance of accelerating regional cooperation under the SAARC banner. Pakistan has during its chairmanship worked to promoting both intra-regional cooperation and advocated the need for SAARC to open up to the world and enter into collaborative arrangements with International Financial Institutions as well as regional organizations and important economies of the world.

In order to achieve meaningful regional cooperation in South Asia, it will be necessary for us to institute a process of building confidence and resolution of disputes to create a truly enabling environment.

We maintain close friendly relations with most regional states-China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Maldives; as well as countries to our immediate west-Iran and Afghanistan. Only our relations with India have followed an uneven path.

In this context, however, I am happy to state that Pakistan and India have resumed their Composite Dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues, in particular the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Pakistan is convinced that all differences and disputes with India, including Jammu and Kashmir, can be resolved through a sincere and substantive dialogue. Since the SAARC Summit in January this year, several rounds of talks between the two sides have been held including a meeting between President Musharraf and Prime Minster Man Mohan Singh in New York during September 2004. During my tour of SAARC countries, I shall also be visiting India.

Normalization of Pakistan-India relations will have an obvious bearing on cooperation among the countries of South Asia and within SAARC. Diversion of our scarce resources from defence to development needs will benefit the peoples of the entire region and not just of the two countries. Trade and commerce within the sub-continent and with the outside world would register a tremendous increase. There would be a more beneficial division of production and utilization of resources. Incomes would increase and overall prosperity would follow. Peace can really break out.

Great cooperation within South Asia would also open up opportunities for cooperation beyond the sub-continent. Our region would greatly benefit, for instance, from tapping the energy resources of Central Asia and the Middle East. From the East, we could benefit through greater trade with the ASEAN countries as well as with China and Japan. Equally important, a cohesive and economically integrated South Asia would be better positioned to negotiate globally for advantageous terms of trade within the WTO.

I am convinced that being reasonable and rational people, the leaders of South Asia see the merit of cooperation over confrontation. I look forward to my meetings with my South Asia colleagues whom I shall be meeting in the next few weeks. I am sure that I will receive their support for the ideas that I have put before you today.

(The excerpts of the speech delivered by Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at the talk program organized by Embassy of Pakistan and Nepal Council of World Affairs)