The Hindu : Neighbours must be sensitive to security concerns: Sinha

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 05, 2004

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Neighbours must be sensitive to security concerns: Sinha

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI, FEB. 4. India's "bottom line" in dealing with its neighbours was the need to remain sensitive to each other's security concerns and to neither encourage nor undertake any activity that might be detrimental to security and welfare.

Delivering the Seventh Dinesh Singh Memorial Lecture on Tuesday, the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, said: "Let alone demand reciprocity in trade and other negotiations, we are now institutionalising positive asymmetry in favour of our neighbours."

This was the approach adopted in the free trade accord with Sri Lanka, he said. The same attitude would permeate free trade talks with Bangladesh. "The fact that Pakistan enjoys MFN [Most-Favoured Nation] treatment even while it refuses to fulfil this basic minimum obligation of international trade towards us also shows the same logic at work."

Speaking on the theme of "The Twelfth SAARC Summit & Beyond", Mr. Sinha was, however, clear about India's security concerns. "Encouraging non-state actors, terrorists and other elements by providing sanctuary and support is not only violative of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1373 but can also boomerang on the countries who provide such support."

Without naming any country, he said: "We have already seen several such examples in our immediate vicinity and it would be wise for everyone to learn from these developments. Mere denials will not suffice."

Mr. Sinha said that the positive outcome of the Islamabad summit reflected a "slow, but steady change in the mindset of our neighbours" towards India. "This change, in turn, is to a large extent, the fruit of a conscious policy shift India has made towards the region as well as its perseverance in advocating the virtues of regionalism."

Arguing that the Vajpayee Government had made the neighbourhood a political priority, Mr. Sinha said that contacts had been made at all levels.

"India's initiatives to re-open road, rail and ferry links with Pakistan; the open skies arrangement vis-à-vis Sri Lanka, the optical fibre backbone across the Nepalese Terai as well as the rail agreement with Nepal...the Dhaka-Agartala bus service and proposals for ferry services between Colombo and Kochi and Mumbai and Karachi are all initiatives specifically designed to promote people-to-people contacts, trade and commercial interaction within the region."

According to Mr. Sinha, India's commitment to SAARC was reflected in the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's decision to travel to Islamabad for the summit despite "tremendous risks" to his personal security.

"For us, SAARC is a means by which our entire region can progress and prosper. It is not an object of fear. Fellow SAARC members are partners in the building of a new future and not conspirators working against us."

Mr. Sinha said that the "most significant value addition" the Vajpayee Government had brought to the neighbourhood policy was the induction of a "major dose" of economic content. "We have persistently articulated the need for the simple logic of economics to triumph over politics and, I believe, it is this approach which helped us make the breakthrough at the SAARC summit in Islamabad.

"Let me reiterate once again my firm belief and conviction that India should remain ready, at all times, to pilot the building of a united and prosperous South Asia...we should have no doubts over the fact that our interests are best served through a positive, activist and where necessary, unilateral approach to the building of mutual economic stakes...within the region."

There was, he said, recognition by SAARC leaders of the reality that the forces of globalisation were unstoppable. If these countries refused to change, they would be left behind, he cautioned.

"We must build on this foundation. South Asia must summon the resources of far-sighted statecraft to sustain the momentum generated by the SAARC summit. SAARC must transform itself from an association sponsored by Governments to one that is energised by the people," he said.

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