SAARC: Hoping against hope!

The incumbent SAARC Secretary General, Ambassador Q.Q.M.A. Rahim the other day assured the Nepali academia that the process of regional cooperation initiated some seventeen years ago though appeared moving very slowly but yet possessed tremendous potentials, which if utilized in an effective manner, could change the face and the fate of the South Asian region. We have reasons to believe in the words of Ambassador Rahim who did not wish to hide his inner feelings regarding the snail pace of the process as such but concurrently hinted that given the political will at the top leadership of the SAARC movement, a lot could be done which could match the achievements of similar organizations scattered in different regions of the world, for example, to quote Ambassador Rahim, the ASEAN and the EU. In the process of convincing the Nepali academia the SAARC Secretary General also implicitly told the galaxy of intellectuals gathered at a program organized by the Economic Department of the Tribhuban University that the conflict that was in between the two South Asian nuclear giants since long had in one way or the other been impeding the SAARC process much to the discomfiture of the rest of the members of the SAARC movement. Ambassador Rahim's modest expressions have come at a time when there are rumors that the already agreed upon dates for the 12th SAARC Summit to be held in Islamabad will possibly not be held on the scheduled dates for "'understandable" reasons. Rescheduling the dates of the Summit have already a precedence and hence if the 12th Summit is shifted or is even postponed will not come as a surprise for the academia of this region.

The question arises as to why the entire process of the SAARC regional cooperation should remain all along the hostage of the never-ending conflict of the two powerful members of the movement? Nepali academia fail to understand as to why these two respected and honored members wish to mar the process of regional cooperation initiated some seventeen years ago? The founding fathers of the SAARC process did initiate this movement when the said conflict in between the two continued, which unfortunately is continuing and will perhaps continue ad infinitum. But then, yet the founding fathers must have kept in mind that time permitting the conflict in between the big two will come to an amicable solution which will facilitate the process of regional cooperation in a much friendly manner which ultimately will prove a boon to the entire population of this part of the world. However, this remained merely a wishful thinking. Hoping against hope!

The SAARC Summits do take place. At times the scheduled Summits are rescheduled. The climax: already agreed dates for the next Summit is brought into question. The smaller members of the SAARC movement remain puzzled over the attitude exhibited towards the entire process of the SAARC by the powerful two who more often than not twist the very proceedings of the Summit, if at all it takes place, in a manner they think it suits to their political interests. The Summits gets dominated by the speeches of the leaders of the big-two who do not fail to pinch the other during their deliberations and in the process the rest of the pressing agenda take a back-seat. The weaker and the smaller nations housed in the SAARC process albeit understand that in the absence of the big-two in the SAARC, the movement will not move an inch. To recall, even the formation of a Growth Quadrangle comprising of Nepal, Bhutan, India and Bangladesh could not proceed for whatever purpose it was formed. It was a Himalayan failure indeed. This means that institutions with or without the big two of the region will not function. Should this mean that the smaller nations of South Asia now must begin working together by excluding those big-two? If they dare to do so, what is the guarantee that the joint venture will work? If this does happen a million-dollar question yet remain: Will the two giants allow the smaller nations to unite for a common cause? But the demand of the time is that the smaller nations must now assert their role in the given scheme of things in the region whether it is with the big two or even in their absence. Simply by shifting the allegations onto the heads of the others, in our case the big two, will perhaps not work now.

Nevertheless the fact is that unless the big two of South Asia settle their contentious issues amicably, the SAARC will continue to feel the impact of their conflict whose effect definitely would be upon the targeted goals set by the process itself. Needless to say their bilateral conflict has already threatened the security of the entire region which the smaller nations must now tell them in clear terms.

It is high time that the smaller and the weaker nations of the SAARC movement come together and impress upon the big-two to allow the process of regional cooperation to expand its activities that are all fortunately aimed at the betterment of the region as a whole and its poverty stricken population.

Not all is bad if we go through these modest lines expressed by Ambassador Rahim who says: "Regional cooperation in South Asia has tremendous potential. Yet from what I have said, it is obvious that SAARC in seventeen years of its existence could not make life for the region a bed of roses. Nevertheless, if it has succeeded in removing some of the thorns from the path making it a little smoother, please give it credit for that".

Ambassador Rahim's expression speaks of both: of the vast potential that the regional cooperation possesses and the problems that were in the way for the exploitation of the said potential. The message is clear.

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