An anatomy of SAARC Dhaka Declaration

The two-day 13th SAARC Summit held in Dhaka ended on November 13 with the issuance of the Dhaka Declaration, just as has each of the previous 12 summits did with a declaration. Also, this time, as has been done in the preceding summits, agreements reached previously have been reiterated, some new decisions taken, and some new proposals put forward. It is of particular significance that this 13th summit marks the ushering in of the association's third decade. On this occasion the Heads of the State or Government very aptly emphasized their commitment to making constructive "cooperation an enduring feature and thus contribute to the region's peace, progress and stability" (Para 3) . These are indeed very encouraging words.

It may be recalled here that the various key commitments and agreements reiterated, renewed or made at the 13th summit include those that relate to such important matters as combating terrorism; establishment of South Asian Free Trade Area and expansion of the agreement in this regard to include services, enhanced investments, and harmonized standards; promotion of education (primary and secondary in particular, but also science, technology and higher education); control of trafficking in women and children; strengthening transport and communication links across the region; establishment of a SAARC Development Fund (SDF) and a SAARC Poverty Alleviation Fund (SPAF); collective SAARC response to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS; a regional initiative with regard to basic health care services and sanitation; cultural exchanges bringing the peoples of South Asia closer; promotion of tourism in South Asia; working together in international forums to enhance the interest of the regional countries; and carrying the cooperation process further through SAFTA and South Asian Customs Union to South Asian Economic Union.

But has SAARC arrived? The answer is an emphatic no. The summiteers themselves have also recognized as much, as reflected in the following statement in the Dhaka Declaration (Para 51): "In view of the new challenges facing the region, pledges and commitments made in the last two decades should be translated into concrete actions in the form of regional projects and programmes and innovative initiatives." But, will this pledge materialize? Very unlikely, because the political problems arising mainly from the much discussed persisting historical burden of mistrust among the regional countries appear to remain as intractable as ever. Given that people are not consulted in any of the countries through available democratic means in respect of SAARC matters (i.e. election manifestoes, referendums, etc), the agreements reached and pledges made in SAARC summits are the commitments of the summiteers, shaped with the help of the associated bureaucrats and advisors. The leaders don't feel obliged to and they don't in practice explain these agreements and proposals to the people so that the people don't have an opportunity of either shaping the regional cooperation or holding the leaders responsible for the non-filament of the regional commitments made. Once the top political leaders go back to the countries following a summit, the bureaucrats and technical people take over, who are usually cocooned into narrow national and subject-matter perspectives. They usually don't see the larger picture and create logjams; and the political leaders usually don't do enough to break those logjams. Moreover, a change of government in one country or another creates a further drag due to possible perceptional differences between the new and the outgoing leadership or the need of the new government for a period of familiarization. If the commitments and pledges were made with active participation and full knowledge of the people of the countries, change of governments should not make a big difference unless sanctioned by the people through the electoral process in one country or another. That is, if the people of a country support major reorientation(s) proposed as election pledges by the winning political party, then a process of renegotiation may have to be initiated.

Obviously, such a people-centred process of regional cooperation building would require that there is functioning participatory democracy in the member countries. In that case, the commitments made and agreements reached by the governments will be much more people-centred than otherwise and the political leaders may be expected to be genuinely committed to deliver on the regional commitments made and agreements reached

It is the ordinary downtrodden people who are generally at the forefront of violence and terrorist attacks; endure the ignominy of trafficking of women and children; suffer from poverty, derivation, and disparity; face the brunt of natural disasters such as floods, cyclones, earthquakes, and tsunamis; and bear the costs of non-cooperation. But they remain, as indicated above, excluded in South Asia from all the processes (social, economic political) of national evolution. Among the SAARC member countries, there is a wide variety of governance types such as monarchy, military or military mediated rule, democratic autocracy; and functioning, although perhaps not fully satisfactory, democracy. But, large-scale social exclusion is a reality in all the countries of the region. However, social exclusion is more and more entrenched, the less and less democratic and more and more autocratic is the governance. In the context of regional cooperation, though, people of all the South Asian countries remain totally excluded.

That is so despite the fact that people of the regional countries are keen to visit neighbouring countries, read books and newspapers from other countries, their civil society organizations want to work together, and their academics and researchers are keen to develop ways for the regional countries to work together for mutual benefits. It is plausible that, left to themselves, people, academicians and academic institutions, civil society organizations, experts in various fields, and news media may come together to construct people's SAARC . But they, being outside the governments, often known as Track 2, cannot decide. They can only identify what can be done, and analyze and specify how the potential activities can be undertaken along with how much costs will be incurred by whom and how much benefits will accrue to whom, and recommend possible solutions to other related questions. The decisions are taken and implemented by the governments i.e. Track 1. So, it is the governmental process that must be people-centred to truly act on behalf of the people. Interestingly, almost all the SAARC summits so for held including the 13th have recognized people-to-people contact as essential to provide the basis for a flourishing SAARC . The Dhaka Declaration states: "The Heads of State or Government reiterated that the peoples of South Asia are the real source of strength and driving force for SAARC and resolved to make regional cooperation more responsive to their hopes and aspirations" (Para 6). "The also agreed to encourage people-to-people contact and draw strength from their shared cultural heritage" (Para 42). But despite a similar call made again and again in the past, visa requirements still remain stringent and traveling difficult due to connectivity limitations is relation to various modes of transport (air, road, rail, water) among the South Asian countries. Exchange of books, journals, and newspapers among the regional countries remain extremely limited. In other words, people-to-people contact and knowledge and information exchange remains as limited and disadvantaged as ever.

Poverty alleviation has been identified as the top priority commitment of the SAARC , both at the national and the regional level. But, given the glaring and accentuating socio-economic disparity being the principal cause behind poverty persisting at high levels in all the regional countries, one would have expected to see a strong commitment made to reducing disparity and bringing it down to tolerable levels quickly. But, no such commitment has been expressed. Also, there is no mention of the need to include and empower the excluded (i.e. the poor and the disadvantaged). But, without adoption and implementation of strategies to that effect sustained poverty reduction is not possible. This is particularly important given that all the regional countries are pursuing free market and globalization paradigm, which is inherently divisive and disparity-enhancing. Indeed, disparity has been accentuating in the countries around the world, which have adapted this paradigm.

A core component of effective empowerment is equity. Everybody should be provided with equal opportunities to develop themselves. But this has not been called for. Even in Plato's Utopia, which was essentially elitist, we find that equal opportunities were to be provided to all, thereby giving everybody the chance to become what they could: guardians (rulers), business people, soldiers and so on. Those who would achieve the best qualifications for the job of the guardians would be the guardians, while others who could not make it to the class of guardians would be soldiers, business people and so on depending on their respective aptitudes and abilities. Now, in the South Asian countries, where we talk of democracy, human rights, and morality, we do not walk the talk much in these regards and have not certainly created equal opportunities for everybody to find their socio-economic-political calling through their own choice and efforts. Walking that talk and the creation of equal opportunities for everybody is the key pathway for establishing an inclusive society where democratic practices and values would be upheld by all. This process would lead to the evolution of participatory social, economic, and political processes, resulting in reduction of disparity and accelerated poverty alleviation. But the Dhaka Declaration has failed to grapple with this key moral-ethical but also practical issue of inclusiveness, ignoring the quagmire that is prevailing and accentuating in the regional countries, with its consequences of persisting high levels of poverty and increasing socio-economic-political differentiations.

If a people-first, inclusive, and equal-opportunity approach, as suggested above, is adopted by the SAARC member countries, a people-based driving force would emanate across the countries that would propel the various pertinent agreements and pledges made by the summiteers at the 13th as well as the previous summits and those that may be adopted later into proper implementation for the mutual benefit of the peoples of the member countries. Otherwise, summits may continue to be held form time to time ending with highly pertinent declarations, but nothing much will happen on the ground in relation to building an effective, mutually beneficial regional cooperation regime for which large potentials exist in many respects.

Dr. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad is President, Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA), and Chairman, Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP).