De-linking trade from politics

What she has articulated is of enormous significance and which one hopes will become the watchword on which to peg the future progress of not only Saarc but also many aspects of our bilateral relations.

All too often we are hamstrung by policies predominated by political considerations. If Saarc has been plagued by any one single factor it must be politics prevailing upon the policy planners and the leadership of the region. And it is not just in the realm of trade that one needs to keep politics away from our policy formulations. All other matters that have bedeviled the organisation since its nascence must be seen in an objective manner, bereft of petty political thoughts.

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A good example before us are India and China whose desire for economic development has motivated them to keep politico-strategic issues from dictating their economic plans. We only have to look across our frontiers to see how China and India have, in their economic wisdom, decided to keep at bay those intractable issues that had so far stood in the way of their forging commercial and economic relationship. And if Pakistan and India can increase their volume of trade, in spite of severe political differences, and if pragmatism can drive Pakistan to engage in a dialogue with Israel in the way it has recently, it seems odious that South Asian nations as an entity would have anything but economics dominating their thought process. We must realise that one of our keys to progress is through Saarc, which can deliver only if the virtuous thoughts are effected on the ground through demonstration of primacy of economics over politics to benefit our peoples.

Once again we welcome the PM's counsel, and as the new Chairperson of Saarc, she must lead by example.