Kathmandu Summit for regional integration

TODAY in Nepal, the 18th SAARC Summit kicks-off bringing together the leaders from Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. As regional leaders assemble for the summit, South Asia pulsates with optimism and hope, and looks forward towards an era of accelerated growth and well-being for the peoples inhabiting the sub-continent. In the three decades of its existence, SAARC has progressively emerged as an indissoluble ingredient in South Asia's identity and in its imagination. There is reason to believe that this Summit in Kathmandu will signal a break with the past, and usher SAARC into an era where the hopes and the dreams expected from this regional institution will begin to fructify.  

Bound together not only by deep bonds of history, geography and culture, but also by common aspirations for stability, peace and prosperity, the South Asian region is a vital cog in the wheels of the world order. Located strategically between the energy-opulent West Asia and the manufacturing hub of East Asia and Southeast Asia, the region constitutes 3.43% of the global landmass and produces 6.5% of all incomes, and sustains almost a quarter (23%) of the entire population living on earth. Indeed, the goals of global order and wellbeing cannot be imagined in the absence of a peaceful, vibrant and forward-looking South Asia.

Obviously, there are enormous challenges in the region. The deprivation and the marginalization faced by hundreds of millions of its people, and the scourge of poverty and widening socio-economic inequalities drag the region from realizing its full potentials, and from attaining in full measure the scope for economic growth, social enhancement and decent living standards for its people. It is a matter of concern that about half of the world's poor reside in the region, and that disease and illiteracy continue to haunt them. This calls for the urgency to act immediately since the dreams of the peoples of the region cannot be deferred.  

Just as there are huge challenges, there are nonetheless enormous potentials for social change and for economic growth in South Asia. It is the largest market in the world, where half of the population is under the age of twenty-five. It is home to immense human and natural resources, cultural heritage, and scientific and technological prowess, and occupies a central stage in the world's flow of trade and commerce. There are huge opportunities for fueling trade and investments and starting off the levers of innovations and technological knowhow towards creating a common knowledge-based economy. These are the areas where SAARC needs to lay its focus, in order that its dreams for ensuring a life of dignity for its people and for the fullest realization of their potentials come true.

In this context, there is reason to believe that this SAARC Summit will inject new dynamism to the process of regional integration. It may be emphasized that there is consensus among the leaders of the region on the need to accelerate the implementation of various initiatives agreed under the SAARC framework, particularly those that seek to promote regional integration and build common infrastructures for enhancing trade and investments among member states. Evidently, there is an agreement among member states that they need to connect in order to co-operate. The stage for realizing the dream of a prosperous South Asia is set.  

Since its inception, SAARC has come a long way. Several regional institutions have been created and consolidated, and the requisite legal framework for co-operation is firmly in place. The process of trade liberalization in the region has gained momentum, even as the goal of attaining regional economic integration has made it to the common agenda of SAARC. Perhaps more significantly, the South Asian identity has not only gained currency during this period but also found acceptability and recognition. SAARC may initially have been a mere acronym, whereas it is now a meaningful symbol of shared identity among the peoples of the region. Therefore, the dream of finding a common thread of South Asian commonality has already materialized.  

For these reasons, SAARC holds enormous promise, and this promise can effectively be realized by focusing on three major pillars in the immediate future: trade, connectivity and technology. The first pillar of co-operation is facilitating the free movement of goods, services and people, and significant progress has been made in this field under the SAARC framework. It may be recalled that several legal and policy infrastructures have been created and institutionalized to promote intra-regional trade. This is no mean achievement. Similarly, SAARC has been cognizant of the value of investing in human resources, and in encouraging the creation and spread of technologies and innovations. No region in history has progressed in the absence of innovations and the creation and proliferation of technologies, and neither will South Asia. Therefore, the promotion of technologies and the enrichment of human capital should be foremost in the SAARC agenda.

However, the need of the hour for enhancing regional co-operation is to focus on the elements comprising the second pillar: infrastructures and connectivity. It is expected that the 18th Summit, whose emphasis is on deeper regional integration, will do precisely that. Through regional frameworks for rail, roads and energy co-operation, SAARC will go a long way in heralding a new era of co-operation. This will not only lay the foundations for increased trade and investments in South Asia, but also create an atmosphere of partnership and collaboration. The people will be able to interact at a deeper and a more meaningful level to create, disseminate and emulate each other's technologies and innovations for shared benefits. Such partnership will be the precursor to the creation of a knowledge-based society in South Asia, which will no doubt help realize the dreams of a dignified and prosperous life for all the people of the region.

The writer is Chargé d' Affaires of Nepal in Bangladesh.