I3th SAARC Summit

The agenda for the leaders is indeed heavy, not so much because of the number of issues that it contains but because of the nature of the issues themselves. Poverty, disaster management as well as terrorism are high on the list and just as it should be. Being held in the backdrop of two very severe natural disasters that have affected almost all the countries of the region, and the spectre of extremism and terrorism, the glaring realisation is that our fate is intertwined and resolutions of common problems require common approach.

The problems that face the region are well known, and the leaders know even better how to tackle those. No problem is insurmountable, more so when they have been identified and plans of action have been formulated, in most of the cases. Thus, if they do not come to be implemented, it will not be due to any fault of SAARC but of the leaders' lack of political will and less than full commitment to make it efficacious.

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It is not the time to rue what has not been achieved but to resolve to attain what the founding fathers set out to achieve. South Asia is one of the most densely populated regions of the world with the highest incidence of poverty that has taken an endemic proportion. But we also are a region with enormous potential and resources that need to be harmonised and shared. For the region this is a historic event, which our leaders must seize upon, and address the issues directly, leaving aside old mindset and doubts and suspicions, if any.

For South Asia this can be a turning point in the history, if the leaders chose to make it so. Let the organisation be reinvigorated by the promise of a new dawn that beckons the region and where the people are willing to give their best to reach.

It is to the posterity that we will be held answerable should we fail to rise to the demands of the day.