SAARC summit stalled by bickering
SAARC summit stalled by bickering
The Daily Star, Asia News Network, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Pakistan's decision to put off next month's South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit for an
indefinite period is as unfortunate as it is regrettable. With
New Delhi holding back its decision to attend on an open-ended
condition that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would only
travel to Islamabad if Pakistan stopped sponsoring "cross-border"
terrorism in India-administered Kashmir, the seven-nation meet
had already been under a cloud of doubt.
Still, the smaller countries of SAARC, such as Bangladesh,
Bhutan, the Maldives and Nepal would surely feel hard done by at
the postponement. More so given the fact that the upcoming summit
was set to take two regional trade pacts, the SAARC Preferential
Trade Agreement and the SAARC Free Trade Agreement, forward.
These nations are left with only the hope that there would be a
change of heart on New Delhi's part and that "the summit will be
reconvened at the earliest possible time".
Even if it is for now, the reality has been that the
regularity of summitry exercise, or for that matter, the
continuity of SAARC's progress has been subject to the
vicissitudes of bilateral relationship between India and
Pakistan. Whenever there was a dip in their relations, it got
reflected on the summit in the shape of postponement.
The previous summit in Kathmandu had been rescheduled several
times, as Vajpayee refused to share the same stage with Gen.
Pervez Musharraf, before being finally held in January this year.
And when it was decided that Islamabad would hold the 12th SAARC
summit, one could easily smell trouble. Then came the May
showdown between India and Pakistan over the militant attack on
the parliament building in New Delhi. Both countries went to the
brink of a full-scale war. Thankfully, international community
intervened and hectic western diplomacy averted what might have
led to dire consequences.
Therefore, "to get the SAARC back on track as early as
possible", the other member-countries must devise means not to
let the India-Pakistan relations hamper the progress of the
regional bloc. The first step in that direction would be to have
summitry prospects delink from any extraneous reference to issues
and bilateral mood-plays. That done, the summit takes place and
it works on the sidelines to bring India and Pakistan back to the
negotiation table.
A daunting task; but as the future of SAARC hinges on
effective participation from India and Pakistan, this has to be
ensured by all means.