SAARC celebrates Silver Jubilee:

South Asia marches towards peace, unity and prosperity

By Pramod DE SILVA

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa being welcomed to the 16th SAARC Summit in Thimphu. Pic : Sudath Silva

SAARC (the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) has just turned 25. Having begun as a regional initiative in 1985 (the first Leaders' Summit was held in Bangladesh that year), SAARC has traversed a lot of ground over the past 25 years. This is certainly a watershed year for the regional bloc, home to one-fifth of the world's population.

Today, SAARC has eight members - Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan, the latest member. It was reported that Myanmar, already an observer, was also eyeing SAARC membership.

Leaders of these eight countries, plus representatives from around nine observer nations, met in Thimphu, Bhutan for the 16th SAARC Summit on Wednesday and Thursday. Surprisingly, it was the first time that Bhutan was hosting the Summit.

The Sri Lankan delegation was led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Incidentally, the previous (15th) Summit was held in Colombo in August 2008 under President Rajapaksa's Chairmanship.

Twenty-five years on, SAARC has its fair share of critics and detractors who are frustrated with the slow pace of regional unification. There is some truth in their arguments, as SAARC leaders themselves have turned the searchlight inwards and found that SAARC has missed many opportunities for progress and further integration. The next 25 years should prove to be challenging to all SAARC nations in this light.

In fact, the Thimphu Silver Jubilee Declaration has noted that SAARC had not achieved its potential even 25 years after coming into being. They have wisely decided to have a Vision Statement and set up a 'South Asia Forum' for the generation of debate, discussion and the exchange of ideas on South Asia and its future development. The Forum will consist of eminent personalities of diverse backgrounds including from all SAARC Member States. The Forum would provide inputs, based on a comprehensive understanding, for charting out the future course of SAARC in the medium and long run and recommend, if required, necessary improvements.

President Rajapaksa has rightly called upon SAARC not to hesitate to build new structures and mechanisms to enable it to reach its full potential.

Addressing the Summit in Thimphu, the President said, "Let us within our own grouping be bold enough to introspect. We must take measures to improve the existing mechanisms, through review, rationalisation and reinvigoration".

After detailed deliberations over key issues like security, trade, climate change, energy, food security, poverty-alleviation and disaster management, the Summit issued a 37-Point Declaration - Towards a Green and Happy South Asia, which spelt out a slew of initiatives to bring about overall development of the region. This is perhaps the first time that climate change figured so prominently (as the theme, in fact) in the SAARC agenda. It is a sign that South Asia is serious about the threat posed by climate change.

Firm resolve

The Leaders also strongly condemned terrorism and reiterated their firm resolve to root out the menace. All countries in South Asia, bar Bhutan and the Maldives, have faced terrorism in one form or the other. Only Sri Lanka has emerged triumphant in the battle against terrorism and it has a lot to offer to other South Asian countries in terms of dealing with the problem.

Thimphu, the city where this year's summit took place

The countries reaffirmed their commitment to implement the SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism and its Additional Protocol and the SAARC Convention on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. The two may not seem to be related, but most terror groups are known to engage in drug trafficking.

Another significant outcome was the establishment of the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) which was proposed in Colombo. It became operational from Thursday with its formal launch at the sixteenth summit. The permanent secretariat of the fund will be based in Thimphu.

The SDF, like the IMF and ADB, will serve as a regional funding mechanism to fund various social, economic, and infrastructure projects in the region. The Fund has an authorised capital of SDR (special drawing rights) one billion. This was a long-felt need for the SAARC region, which should strive to be self-reliant for development.

SAARC has failed to move ahead in intra-regional trade, despite the existence of several trade treaties and bilateral trade pacts between various Member States. Moreover, SAARC as a bloc makes only a minimal contribution to world trade. This situation should change. After all, SAARC itself has a huge market close to 1.5 billion people. We hope the "Bilateral Trade and Services Agreement" signed at the 16th Summit would be an impetus for trade activities in the region.

'Trade not aid' should be the formula for SAARC as it seeks to uplift the living standards of the South Asian people. In this context, poverty alleviation should remain a key goal of SAARC.

The Leaders have emphasised the importance of deepening regional efforts on poverty alleviation and called for the expeditious mainstreaming of SAARC Development Goals at country level. As President Rajapaksa pointed out, taking economic progress beyond statistics to reach the village level where most South Asians live was vital.

One of SAARC's biggest problems is the lack of a South Asian identity and people-to-people contact. If I can think of myself as South Asian, instead of thinking as a Sri Lankan or an Indian, half the battle would have been won. Unfortunately, this is not the case. SAARC citizens, if they can be called such, require visas even to visit their neighbouring countries. SARRC has to empower its people first in more ways than one.

The lack of free movement of people and goods is a huge dent in the SAARC concept of regional unity. True, even the European Union took a long time to become a borderless entity, but SAARC should at least now move in that direction. Apart from borderless travel, South Asians would like to see more transport options between at least their key cities. Many SAARC capitals are still not linked to each other by air, so intra-regional travel and tourism is still in its infancy despite the best efforts of governments. It should also expedite work on the proposed Asian rail network at the SAARC end.

The SAARC region should also explore the possibility of issuing a common visa for tourists from other regions, a move which will benefit all eight nations. Expansion and openness should always bring progress and prosperity.

A board announcing the 15th SAARC Summit held in Sri Lanka in 2008.

And why not a common currency? This is very much a long-term concept, but an interesting one. This should be a distinct possibility as South Asia integrates its economy further.

Bilateral disputes

SAARC cannot progress unless some of its Member States resolve their bilateral disputes which have dragged on for several decades. They do pose a problem for the prospect of peace in the region. Peace in the SAARC region is vital for its political and social stability and development. It is only then that the outside world will treat SAARC as a force to reckon with. As long as the region is mired in conflict, as long as it is affected by terror, as long as its people do not embrace a South Asian identity, SAARC will not realise its true potential.

Ultimately, it is SAARC itself that should evolve solutions to its problems. President Rajapaksa and other leaders have urged a search for South Asia's own home grown solutions to current and future problems. This does not, of course, mean that SAARC can progress in isolation. SAARC must strengthen its ties with the observer States and other regional blocs and raise its collective voice in international fora. SAARC must become one, in spirit and in deed.