People's Democracy

MEETING recently at Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, the 11th summit of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has come out with a declaration that can genuinely lay the basis of a new era of cooperation in this region. But the basic thing is that it has to be sincerely put into practice, and this is for what all the Left and democratic forces in the region must exercise their pressure.

There is a good reason for saying so. It has been the experience of various countries in the post-world war period that they cannot overcome the ravages of war or prosper without cooperating with their neighbours. The initiative in this direction was taken by some West European countries who formed a European Economic Community. It later turned into the European Union (EU) and finally led to a monetary union of most of these countries.

A similar example was that of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) that played a notable role in the development of the countries of this region. Originally formed by five countries, the ASEAN later expanded with the inclusion of Brunei, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. Cambodia is also in the line.

The Organisation of African Unity (OAU), Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Mercassur are some other examples of regional cooperation. The latest in line is the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) comprising the USA, Canada and Mexico, though the US has been trying to dominate the other NAFTA partners.

A basic point about these regional cooperation entities is that their formation and functioning were not affected even by the serious differences between their founder members. France and Germany had had certain differences about their territories, but they did not allow these differences to come in the way of regional cooperation. There was a time when Indonesia and Malaysia could not see eye to eye in world affairs, but yet they came together, cooperated on certain issues of mutual interest, and finally resolved their territorial disputes also. Thus even though these multilateral forums do not allow a member to raise bilateral disputes, they do create a ground for eventual resolution of these disputes in an amicable manner. This point is especially relevant for the SAARC countries, particularly India and Pakistan.

It was in such an international background that seven countries of the South Asian region decided to come together for regional cooperation, and that was how the SAARC came into existence, thus fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the region. The initiative was taken by the then Bangladesh president General H M Irshad. In alphabetical order, these countries are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Once, Afghanistan under Najibullah also applied for membership, but its plea was rejected. But that is another story.

There is no doubt that the SAARC has a lot of potential. It can indeed emerge as a viable unit of regional cooperation and play a big role in ensuring peace and prosperity in the world. The region is home to about one fourth population of the world, and has immense human resources. Lakhs of our scientists, engineers, doctors and technocrats are working in the US, Middle East and other parts of the world. Moreover, the region has plenty of natural resources at its command and does not have to depend much upon others for minerals, agricultural and forest produce, and the like. If Japan can develop its steel industry with the iron ore imported from India, there is no basis to believe that we cannot utilise our resources here itself.

This is particularly important in view of the bitter fact that the countries of this region are still in the grip of excruciating poverty despite all their natural and human resources. It is said of India that it is a rich country where poor people live; more or less the same can be said about the whole region. Barring sub-Saharan Africa, our region has perhaps the lowest human development index in the world. We have the largest number of illiterates in the world, a quite pathetic record of health care and sanitation, and rampant homelessness. So much so that after more than half a century of their independence, South Asian countries have not been able to provide even potable water to their people.

It is evident that the root of the problem lies not in any lack of resources but somewhere else. While we have failed in utilising our resources in a judicious and equitable manner, many of the South Asian countries are facing the scourge of terrorism and/or internal dissension. However, as a matter of fact, the sorry state of regional cooperation is also responsible for this pathetic situation, more so because such cooperation could help us overcome the problem of paucity of financial resources to a significant extent.

Apart from other things, this pathetic situation is evident from the fact that we have failed to make the SAARC a vibrant body. In contrast to the record of the EU, ASEAN or OAU which regularly hold their summit conferences every year, the SAARC has been able to hold only 11 summits so far in its life of 16 years; even the latest summit was held after a gap of over two years.

Since its formation, the SAARC has constituted several committees and commissions for economic and technical cooperation on the one hand and cooperation in cultural field on the other. But they have never been fully functional. An example is the South Asian Commission on Poverty that was constituted at the Dacca summit in 1992, but in fact never took off despite the fact that no less than 50 crore of the world’s poor live in our region. Similarly, at one stage, a South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) was arrived at, and the resolve was to develop preferential trade in the region so as to ultimately reach at a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA). The dream is still far from realisation. Nobody is therefore sure as to when we will reach the final goal of a South Asian Economic Union.

To be true to facts, we have to admit that both India and Pakistan have to share the responsibility for this sorry state. They are not only two biggest countries of the region; in fact a SAARC summit became the first casualty whenever their bilateral disputes reached a high pitch. This is patently against the principles of a multilateral forum, and more so if that forum is for regional cooperation.

Yet the heartening thing is that the 11th summit of the SAARC has successfully concluded without recrimination and come out with a declaration that can really serve as the basis for future cooperation among these countries in various fields. Before the summit was actually held, there was much apprehension about its outcome, particularly because of the December 13 terrorist attack on Indian parliament. However, as the saying goes, all is well that ends well. Without going into the details of who said what at Kathmandu, we cannot but welcome the general tenor of the declaration.

For one thing, the declaration reiterated the basic principle that all the seven SAARC countries are equal and sovereign partners in the joint effort to overcome the problems facing the people of the region. It said using the internal developments in any one country to disrupt the SAARC process is unacceptable. The declaration reiterated the goals of, and reaffirmed the commitment to, regional cooperation through the SAARC and "underscored the importance of annual summit meetings in charting common strategy for the realisation of the objectives and principles set out in the charter of the association." The SAARC countries will strive to equitably share "the benefits of regional cooperation..…to achieve and maintain a minimum acceptable level of economic and social development in each member state." It was also resolved that the SAARC countries will try to "evolve common positions on issues of shared interests at the international fora." The example given was that of the meeting of SAARC commerce ministers before the Doha round of WTO negotiations. Though they could not achieve much by way of evolving a common position at Doha, the effort in itself was unassailable and was taken note of.

The declaration also expressed the resolve to develop cooperation in fields of trade and industry, science and technology, education and training, tourism, in social and cultural areas, regarding the issues facing the women and children in the region, and most importantly in the field of poverty alleviation. The summit formed a council of SAARC ministers to take "steps to fully activate the existing three-tier mechanism for poverty alleviation." The member countries "agreed to reconstitute an independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation, with Nepal as its convenor and Bangladesh as co-convenor, for reviewing the progress made in cooperation on poverty alleviation and for suggesting appropriate and effective measures."

It is clear that these, and many other, resolves made at the SAARC summit may take the whole region to new heights if they are sincerely put into practice. But, going by past experience, this if is a very big if. Not to talk of big things, even smaller items of the earlier declarations remained unfulfilled. For example, trafficking in women and children for immoral business has been a cause of concern since long, but determined action to stop it was lacking.

However, all said and done, one hopes that leaders of the South Asian countries will display maturity and statesmanship, and take effective steps to put the Kathmandu declaration into practice. Whatever may have been the bilateral problems between any two countries, they must not be allowed to disrupt the SAARC process.

In particular, India and Pakistan have to pay special heed to the requirements of regional cooperation and provide leadership for the SAARC process. It is in this sense that the conduct of India’s prime minister and foreign minister at Kathmandu projected the country in an unfavourable light. While Pakistan president Musharraf was prepared to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit, Vajpayee was not even prepared to talk to him. He shook hands with Musharraf only after the latter extended his hand towards him, and the two leaders displayed a modicum of formality. However, nothing concrete emerged.

The situation in the region, as we said last week, is critical. Clouds of war are hovering in the sky. India is indeed facing the threat of terrorism, and has every right to take determined steps against it. But Musharraf too is not in a very happy position. He is hard-pressed between homegrown fundamentalists on the one hand and world public opinion on the other. There are reports that he may take some concrete steps regarding Kashmir, which may bring a change in Indo-Pak relations. The danger is that if Musharraf is ousted and a staunch pro-fundamentalist regime takes his place in Pakistan, the situation in the subcontinent will worsen beyond measure and that will not be in India’s interest or in that of the whole region. The government of India needs to weigh all these considerations in order to evolve an enlightened position regarding Indo-Pak relations as well as regional cooperation.

Here the role of various class and mass organisations assumes importance. The fact is that not much is likely to emerge if the issues raised in the Kathmandu declaration are left to the respective national governments. Hence the people and their organisations do have to intervene and make these issues parts of their day-to-day action programmes. Only that can give the guarantee that the issues raised in the declaration do not remain mere pious wishes.