The Hindu : An agenda for SAARC

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 31, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Leader Page Articles

An agenda for SAARC

By Kant K. Bhargava

India should adopt a cooperative and magnanimous approach to important matters on the agenda of the SAARC summit.

THROUGH A prudent approach that is both cooperative and assertive, an ascendant India needs to bring about a change in the mindset of its neighbours about its role in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

The whole is never just the sum of its parts but always something more, said French philosopher Edgar Morin. That should be the rationale behind regional cooperation. India has been wary of regional cooperation in the past because of the tendency of its neighbours to work for "benign restraint" on what they consider Indian hegemony. It is no secret that in 1980, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi shared the view of some of her top advisors that in any regional grouping India's neighbours will gang up against it. A steadfast and persuasive Ram Sathe, the then Foreign Secretary, did get her to convey to the then Bangladesh President, Zia Ur Rehman, her agreement in principle to his proposal for regional cooperation in South Asia though.

The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister should send the message at the coming SAARC summit in Islamabad that its neighbours have nothing to fear and a lot to gain from India's size and centrality in the region. To bring about a change in the mindset of its neighbours, India has to adopt a nuanced position. Its SAARC policy should reflect the weight of India in Asian and world affairs. It should adopt a cooperative and magnanimous approach on various important matters on the agenda of the summit and be assertive only when necessary.

The central socio-economic challenge for the member-countries of SAARC is poverty reduction. The report of the second Independent South Asian Commission for Poverty Alleviation (ISACPA) represents a paradigm shift in the South Asian approach to tackle poverty. But the report has not taken due account of the link between poverty and conflicts in the region. The progress made by the South Asian countries towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals leaves much to be desired. The approaches to poverty reduction in the region have shown promising results in income related areas, but their impact on improving the situation in key areas of human development and security has not been significant. There has been no attempt to promote deeper public engagement in processes such as the formulation of a SAARC social charter and poverty alleviation programmes and advocacy.

For the common man in South Asia, poverty is the central problem that needs attention. At Islamabad, the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, may offer to share with other South Asian countries the relatively more successful Indian experience, expertise and resources in digital technology with its tremendous transformative capacity and effectiveness for poverty reduction.

But the international community should also be urged to do more by providing additional aid to the region as committed by it at the Millennium Summit and subsequent international gatherings. India should suggest that the Islamabad summit invite various segments of civil society in South Asia to debate the social charter and the ISACPA report, and send to the SAARC Secretariat their feedback.

The central economic challenge faced by South Asian countries, as outlined in the report of the Group of Eminent Persons (GEP) is the establishment of a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) and movement towards an eventual South Asian Economic Community (SAEC). New areas of economic cooperation also need to be explored. On the political front, India needs to draw attention to the challenge of terrorism that is currently being faced by almost all the SAARC member-countries. Effective bilateral and regional cooperation for combating terrorism are necessary for eradicating this scourge from the region.

In addition to the member-countries playing their role as part of the international coalition against terrorism, they also need to form a regional coalition and formulate a well thought-out plan at the regional level.

Some other issues that merit study and discussion in the SAARC framework are the implications for the region of the various regional and sub-regional groupings in Asia, the role of the South Asian diaspora for the development of the region, and supportive inputs from the international community and international institutions.

Mr. Vajpayee will have the unique opportunity to spell out his vision about India's regional future and its role in SAARC. India's neighbours are now well aware of the potential of Indian contribution to bring together a hitherto divided Asia as it sets out to navigate and shape a new world.

(The writer is a former Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.)

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