Some cheers for SAARC

No doubt, the summit of the member states occupies an important segment of the entire SAARC activities. There the leaders not only take certain important decisions but also provide the much desired political push to the forum which is badly required for an organisation that often lands in the slippery ground. The last summit in Kathmandu itself took place after a long gap only after obstacles were eliminated following assiduously carried out endeavours. No wonder, the inordinate delay was due to the rivalry and difference of the two major players of the regional spectrum -- India and Pakistan. -- And once again such problems between the two traditionally hostile neighbours were nothing surprising. Nonetheless, time and again two nations have expressed their unflinching adherence to the SAARC despite the fact that both dragged their feet in extending support to the concept when it was mooted by then Bangladesh president Ziaur Rahman in late seventies. It is believed that both New Delhi and Islamabad looked askance at the idea initially but once they gave their nod they definitely showed keenness to see that the enterprise flourishes. But their enmity prevented the SAARC, launched at the first summit in Dhaka in 1985,from having a smooth sail politically, and consequently the summits have often been a victim of this unfortunate situation.

True, differences among other member nations too have also contributed to delaying the summits or other programmes but essentially it has been the Indo-Pak bilateral problems that were largely responsible for summits not taking place at the scheduled time. The last summit in the capital of Kathmandu was made possible only after some improvement in the New Delhi-Islamabad ties and it was decided that the 12th conference of the heads of the government would be held in Pakistan in January,2003.Evidently, the summit preparations were generally initiated long before and it was clear in mid 2002 that the Islamabad summit had run to trouble owing to fresh Indo-Pak disputes that cropped up during the interregnum of the last summit and preparatory time for the next one. The result was obviously the setback for the SAARC and well wishers of the forum were waiting with bait breath when the difficulties would be over so as to facilitate the staging of the event. For them the wait was agonising but finally good news came from the capital of Nepal that the summit now would take place from January next year in Pakistan.

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Obviously, the issue was cleared by the political leadership at the highest level before the foreign secretaries formally took the decision. Indeed, the leaders have demonstrated their sagacity by not subjecting the SAARC heads of government conference to further delay. However, it needs to be pointed out that this delay could have been shortened let alone that the summit should not have been delayed at all. While welcoming the development, one may also say that it would have been better if the dates for the next summit could be fixed within the current calendar year since the charter attaches particular importance on the supposedly annual event within a calendar year. Anyway, barring unforeseen developments, the 12th SAARC summit now looks certain to be held on the scheduled time. The decision of the standing committee has set at rest all speculations about the summit, which is immensely important for keeping the venture going on the desirable track of forging cooperation among the seven densely populated developing and least developed countries of South Asia. The region has more than one fifth of world's total population.

It is a matter of common knowledge that SAARC suffers badly from resource constraint and this prevents the enterprise from taking much welfare-oriented programmes that would benefit the vast multitude living in the impoverished region. Sceptics say that SAARC is somehow limping and is not making the expected progress. Given the resource constraints and vexed political differences that often characterise the relations among the members and more particularly two major nations in the group, the achievements of the forum can be described as laudable. The integrated programmes of actions and the performance of the technical committees are no mean attainment unless someone has too high expectation from a body like this. But it is the political bickering that is taking heavy toll of the SAARC in the sense that it is obstructing its normal course which may be humble but not without success or meaningless.

Arguably, the political problems which are so acute between the two main members cannot be swept under the carpet just for the sake of the SAARC and it is likely to cast adverse impact on the forum. But one may argue forcefully that the SAARC was launched taking into account this reality and the charter that was formulated on the basis of consensus provides for regular meetings including summits annually. But the conference of heads of government is not taking place regularly. This however delivers a body blow to the SAARC. In the last 18 years, eleven summits have taken place whereas one such event in a calendar year was the objective of the SAARC. It is heartening that the next summit has now been cleared but member states must take great care that this important event is not put on the backburner.

Bilateral disputes are not covered by SAARC which discusses common issues of all members. By the same token, it is expected that SAARC must not be bedeviled by bilateral disputes. After all, SAARC events also cast a sobering effect on the contentious relationship among the member states. SAARC should not remain a hostage to bilateral issues and hopefully the spirit of collective good will get precedence over other extraneous matters.

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury is Senior Special Correspondent of BSS.