13th SAARC Summit: Time to act

For three days Dhaka was almost hermetically sealed. The extended Eid holiday may have come as a welcome gift to some, but to many, who manage to scrape a daily living, it was difficult three days. To most Dhakaiites, cooped up in one's house, having to shutter completely down, particularly those houses that had the misfortune of being located along the VVIP motorcade route, it was a unique experience. And all these were endured with fortitude to allow a trouble-free holding of the SAARC Summit that was twice postponed and seemed it might be postponed for the third time when the Delhi blasts killed more than 50 people, only a fortnight before the Dhaka Summit

Never before had we experienced such a security blanket over the capital, and never before were so many security personnel employed to ensure the security of the Summit. But never before had we experienced five hundred near-simultaneous blasts in the country either. Given the experience that we have had over the last several years, no security measures was more than necessary.

For Bangladesh the Summit was significant for several reasons. It was here that SAARC commenced its journey, amidst hopes as well as uncertainty, twenty years ago. Hopes we were infused with because never before did we think in terms of the region. Never before did we consider putting our efforts together to better the lot of the peoples of whole region, notwithstanding the many fissiparous matters that came in the way of our bilateral interactions. Uncertainty was built in, because there was that little bit of apprehension in the minds of the two big members regarding the motivation behind forming the regional group. And here in the city of Dhaka, having the unique distinction of holding the Summit for the third time, the leaders of the seven countries were meeting to devise ways to make SAARC a more meaningful entity as it stepped into the cusp of the third decade of its existence. Nothing could give a Bangladeshi more satisfaction.

But what have we that we can take satisfaction and comfort from, out of the two-day Summit that cynics term as a mere talking shop, and the Association as a ship moving to nowhere?

To start with, there has been a candid acknowledgement by the leaders of the seven member countries, of the fact that SAARC has not been as effective as it might be. And indeed, both India and Pakistan have readily accepted that much of the reasons of SAARC's non-performance have been due to the nature of Indo-Pak relations. This awareness is definitely a positive development for the region, particularly because both the leaders have pointed to the central reason, 'trust deficit' between India and Pakistan.

The most positive thing to have come out of the Summit was opening of its arms to its new member, Afghanistan. It seemed rather odd that a country that has physically and historically been a part of the region was not considered for SAARC membership, till now, although it was being mentioned, in both official and unofficial circles, as being a part of the South Asian construct. It is perhaps Afghanistan's political situation that kept it psychologically apart from the region. Some may question whether, given its current political and economic situation, Afghanistan can fulfil its role as a member of SAARC. But it is exactly for that reason why Afghanistan should be welcomed into SAARC's fold. One feels that being a member of SAARC would help Afghanistan transit to a new political and economic order that has so far not been possible to attain. This is where the other SAARC countries can be of tremendous help to Afghanistan.

On another plane, according observer status to both China and Japan reflects the acknowledgement of the geopolitical and geo-economic reality of the time. When most of the SAARC countries have very deep economic and strategic relationship with either or both the countries, and where India itself has forged new relationship with China, and Japan is already associated with SAARC through the SAARC-Japan Special Fund, it is an incongruity not to involve them formally with the regional grouping.

While poverty alleviation and terrorism were the common themes in the speeches, individual thrusts, reflecting their unique concerns emphasised in the seven leaders' speeches were also noticeable. Thus understandably, Chandrika spoke of the need for a joint effort to tackle natural disasters. Bangladesh's concerns for protectionism and poverty as well as human trafficking, while India's need for transit and misgivings about anti-state elements using territory of other member states were appropriately reflected. Maldives' environmental concerns were rightly reflected in Gayoom's observations that progress in the area of environmental conservation has been far too slow. So were Nepal's concern for terrorism, Pakistan and Bhutan's concern for poverty alleviation and need for cooperation in the field of energy, noticeable.

But how much cause do we have to celebrate the 13th Summit?

Although nothing about some pressing issues like a common power grid was put on the table, one hopes that SAFTA would be able to get off the ground by January 2006. Our awareness of the need to combat terrorism jointly is demonstrated by the SAARC Convention on terrorism, drawn up in 1987, that predates 9/11 by almost a decade and a half. What one would have expected, apart from ratifying the Additional Protocol, was some concrete strategy to address the challenge. All other concerns that were articulated in the speeches and reflected in the Dhaka Declaration were related to issues already taken up for action previously, but not acted upon in full, regrettably.

Unfortunately, it is not a deficit of trust between India and Pakistan alone but its deficit generally in the region that has stunted the progress of SAARC. Thus, any suggestion that India makes is perceived with a certain degree of reservation, while the same is true of India when some of its smaller neighbours come up with a new proposal. There can be no doubt that we need to be physically connected, not only intra-regionally, but also with regions across the regional boundaries. The Indian PM's suggestion in this regard bears very strong rationale. That India has failed to access land transit from Bangladesh when it already enjoys river transit facility, is as incongruous as the fact that Bangladesh is yet to get the full and complete use of the Teen Bigha Corridor to access its enclave, even after 30 years of the agreement. In the same manner, the Bangladesh PM's suggestion of de-linking trade and commerce from politics merits serious consideration.

Held in the backdrop of two very severe natural disasters that have affected almost all the countries, and the spectre of extremism and terrorism that pervades the region, the only realisation that has become crystal clear is that the fate of the countries in the region is inextricably linked. And try as much as we will, we cannot live in individual island of prosperity and excellence when the rest of the region is about to be engulfed by a sea of poverty and scarcity. Nothing but a common approach can help resolve common problems.

If only the countries can break out of the aura of mistrust and not allow their bilateral matters come in the way of the region's closer interaction, we can perhaps be more successful in implementing the SAARC Charter.

The need of the time is for an undiluted follow-up of the plans and to address these issues directly, leaving aside old mindset and doubts and suspicious.

The author is Editor, Defence and Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.