Meeting again?

THE South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Summit will take place in the Bhutan's capital, Thimpu, on April 28-29, and Bhutan has completed all preparations to host the sixteenth summit-level meeting, according to the Bhutanese Ambassador to Bangladesh, Dasho Bap Kesang.
The pre-summit meetings of the Saarc programming committee, represented by senior officials of member countries, the standing committee comprising foreign affairs secretaries, and council of ministers comprising foreign affairs ministers, will commence from April 24.
Since global change is adversely affecting the region, "Climate Change" is the theme that has been adopted for the Thimpu summit. The theme is also appropriate for the summit because Bhutan has maintained a pristine and eye-soothing forest in the country.
It has been 25 years since the first summit of Saarc was held in Dhaka in 1985. Originally it consisted of seven South Asian states -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
In 2007, Afghanistan became a member, and Myanmar is believed to have indicated its interest to become a member of Saarc.
The last (15th) summit took place in Sri Lanka in August 2008 under the theme of "Partnership of Our People."
Apart from the eight member-states, representatives of nine observer countries -- including the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and the European Union -- are expected to participate in the Thimpu Summit.
The founding principles of Saarc are self-help and regional solidarity, and the summits facilitate an exchange of shared perceptions and values which are important factors in the growth of good neighbourly relations and success for regional cooperation.
Although the summit is expected to take place every year, the 2010 Thimpu summit is the sixteenth. That means that all was not going well within the institution, and nine summits were missed due to political factors among member-states.
The regional grouping of states has been a positive force in the region in generating a climate of cooperation and harmony. The regional institutions represent the member-states in multi-lateral forums to bargain for economic advantages in trade and related areas from other countries.
Saarc, however, has been limping in achieving its goal. In 2005, India's former foreign secretary reportedly identified the reasons saying: "Saarc is still a largely consultative body, which has shied away from undertaking even a single collaborative project in 20 years of existence. In fact, there is deep resistance to doing anything that could be collaborative."
It seems that since the Delhi summit in 2007 there is a new momentum in Saarc. The South Asian Free Trade Agreement took effect in 2009, and a Regional South Asian University is being established in New Delhi. The Regional Food Security Fund has been invigorated. The Saarc leaders are expected to jointly inaugurate the Saarc Development Fund (SDF), with an initial capital of $300 million.
The SDF will serve as the umbrella financial institution for all Saarc projects, and solve the problems arising from the proliferation of financing mechanisms under the Saarc.
Three regional agreements -- Convention on Cooperation to Protect the Environment, Trade in Services, and the Rapid Response Mechanism to Natural Disasters -- are expected to be signed during the summit.
Trade among member-states is the important glue of a regional institution. Regrettably, trade within the Saarc member-states is only 5 percent, while trade among Asean members is 25 percent, and it is 50 percent in the European Union.
Against this background, the leaders may examine the ways to boost the inter-regional trade among member-states by removing tariff and non-tariff barriers.
Trade is also linked with interconnectivity through multi-modal transport within member-states. The leaders may formulate guidelines for developing a comprehensive transport network and providing interconnectivity in the light of Escap's and Asian Development Bank's proposals.
At the summit, the regional leaders will have an excellent opportunity to discuss several other core issues, including poverty reduction, water, energy and environmental security, as well as agricultural sustainability. A counter-terrorism regional cooperation plan may be devised in the light of the Bangladesh prime minister's 2009 proposal for a South Asian anti-terrorism task force.
Integration of power grids is an important priority for energy. Nepal could generate about 80 thousand MW and Bhutan 30 thousand MW from hydropower, and a Saarc grid may be launched by joint collaboration with a view to removing the acute shortage of energy in the region.
All the Saarc member states, despite their disagreements on some bilateral issues from time to time, have recognised that regional cooperation and harmonisation of strategies are imperative in the globalised world.
Saarc could play a role in collective bargaining for the member-states. The success of the regional institution is judged by interactions within the regional economic blocs to enhance its economic gains.
It is interesting to note that an artists' exhibition with the participation of two or three painters from each member country, and a meeting of the South Asian Free Media Association will take place on the sidelines of the summit.
Saarc is a major piece of political architecture and it has come to stay, despite its current difficulties. We all wish the Thimpu Saarc Summit great success.

Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.