Editorial»
Regional cooperation
- Civil society perspective
JAN 06 - The South Asian people in whose name the SAARC Charter was signed hope that the political, economic and social elites will deliver their promises to them. The people cry out, especially the poorest of the poor, for peace and harmony. They wish to be free from terror, hunger, deprivation, religious conflicts; and, furthermore, they wish to be free from the chains of unemployment, illiteracy, ill-health and gender injustices.
How does the civil society judge the SAARC process after 19-years of existence? Frankly, it is perceived to be a non-starter for the mountain folks where a never-ending confidence building process between politicians and bureaucrats has been unable to break through the negotiations lying at the periphery and the margins of our day-to-day needs. We have not been able to enter the core economic sectors without which the lives of the peoples at the grassroots will not be impacted in a meaningful way.
The mountain peoples, actually all the peoples of South Asia, are beginning to be fatigued by the SAARC pomp and ceremony done at great national expense. Indeed, the cynical are wondering just how hypocritical our leaders can be when promises are compared with achievements and yet they continue to raise aspirations from one Summit to another. Let us sincerely hope that this 12th Summit will end this practice once and for all.
Most achievements to date have been through the interventions of the UN Special Agencies—which have practically hijacked the SAARC process. Should SAARC repeat the agenda of the UN and its specialised agencies or should it confine itself to its own creativity, its own felt needs and be restricted to what is practicable and doable?
Special responsibility of
India and Pakistan
SAARC must begin to truly innovate. Responsibility for innovation must lie squarely with the bigger powers like India and Pakistan, who should provide a new deal for the least developed and landlocked states with preferential trade access into their territories for selected products and services that portends international competitive advantages for these countries; and also more efficient transit trade access through their territories for the landlocked countries to be globally competitive. This should begin right away as a unique, SAARC confidence-building measure by both regional powers collectively.
SAFTA, to be meaningful and viable, must be backed up by a South Asian Regional Treaty on Transit and Transport, since regional trade promotes overland trade rather than trade using only sea routes, to take advantage of market proximity, speed and variety of shipments using multiple modes of transport. This is not only of limited interest to the landlocked countries but also to coastal countries. Many goods will be cheaper to transport by land from Bangladesh to Pakistan via Nepal and India rather than directly by sea. The same shipment from Bangladesh could also be sold to transit countries by breaking bulk, thus providing economies of scope in transport and distribution.
We read in the newspapers that SAFTA has been stalled on account of the larger countries’ reluctance to provide special and differential treatment to least developed countries of the region.
We from the least developed countries expect that SAARC should lead the way to define what this means in such a manner that even the WTO cannot ignore the pertinence of our own definition of ‘special and differential treatment’. One should add that even in WTO parlance it is not clear what precisely is meant by this term. We should thus be exemplary by being specific to the particular needs of the South Asian LDCs.
Deepen people-to-people contacts
One of the hallmarks of the SAARC has been the emphasis on people-to-people contacts. The contribution of the business community and civil society to keep SAARC alive in these few years of inter-state trial and tribulation have been exemplary.
We must now broaden and deepen the people-to-people contacts by mobilizing the youth power of South Asia for a common regional future that is anchored in peace, harmony, tolerance and human rights. We may be able to think of SAARC e-citizens if networks are developed using information technology with all its potential. We can communicate via the internet. We can conference via the internet. We can use IT as a platform for our youth to be in touch with one another. So can we use cricket, yoga and entertainment, as entry points, for our youths to discover the wealth in each of us.
Our South Asian diaspora, spread across all the continents of the world, can be the catalyst for the movement towards the creation of e-citizens of South Asia as they seek their roots free of the prejudices set up by our own social environments and historical legacies.
We must face up to the sad reality of religious strife and conflict in our region. We can not, and should not, wish it away. On the contrary, it is growing in momentum and could be verging on the thresholds of religious fundamentalism be it Hindu, Islam, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain or Christian. Therefore, it behooves our religious and spiritual gurus and leaders to directly engage in an inter-faith dialogue for peace and harmony. SAARC needs to provide a platform for this to happen.
Rethink South Asia and the Charter
A rethink on the Charter in the context of current realities may be advisable for the future of SAARC. Afghanistan had been applying for membership in the past and this needs to be addressed as it is integrally a part of South Asia and its civilisation. Having that country will open up new, grand opportunities for regional, sub-regional and inter-regional co-operation.
Provision for associated membership may also be foreseen, at this juncture, for Myanmar and possibly also China. Already Myanmar is in league with many South Asian nations through the BIMST-EC modality, which is going to hold its first Summit in Thailand this year.
China has already expressed its interest in joining SAARC, if invited. Even though it may look premature at this point in time, nevertheless it too could be asked to join as an associate member. Who knows, it may even join BIMST-EC given its innovative role in sub-regional co-operation in both East and South East Asia. The entry of China will undoubtedly raise the profile of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region as a zone of prosperity with the formation of many new growth centres located in the mountains themselves.
The point to stress is this: SAARC should set up a High Level Group of persons to study these requests, as in an age of globalization and regionalisation it may be best to conceptualise a SAARC region that is composed of three seaboards—western, eastern and southern—to comprise of coastal and inland areas around the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal–each with strong economic linkages to West Asia, South East Asia and the Indo-Chinese peninsula respectively.
Moving away from the rule of unanimity in all decisions should be another facet of Charter amendment. Limited majoritarianism should be resorted to in all decisions of the Technical Committees to give meaningful responsibility to the SAARC Secretariat and to permit them to think and act as a fully regional agency. Decisions in the Council of Ministers and the Summit may continue to be on the basis of consensus. Bilateral matters should not be discussed in SAARC so as to safeguard the integrity of the regional and sub-regional process.
(To be concluded)Posted on: 2004-01-06 02:34
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