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News Analysis

SAARC exudes optimism

Kuldip Nayar writes from New Delhi
Bangladesh. Bhutan. Mal dives. Nepal. Pakistan. Sri Lanka and India, which constitute the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). have MtUe to take pride in going past another summit since the birth of the forum two decades ago It was organised to dialogue regionally for cooperation But it has turned out to be a discordant club It is a lesson how the best of economic can be spoilt by cheap politics
Two powerful members India and Pakistan, particularly the latter, have introduced their political differences to even । minor discussions of SAARC so । as not to allow it to take off They have neither hit it off well | themselves nor have they let । other members to settle down to | any meaningful relationship i Pakistan s obsession to raise Kashmir at every place and every time and India s determination to stall any discussion have reduced SAARC to a shell, with little substance It has all the paraphernalia a secretariat. a secretary general and
hosts of activities. But the sum total is nothing. It is a series of futile exercises.
For the first time in many years, the meeting between Prime Minister Inder Gujral and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at Male has brightened the prospects of SAARC. what ever the fears. It looks as if the organisation may acquire some meaning. The stumbling block. Kashmir, may matter less. The two have discussed the problem but as a bilateral issue Why should a problem between the two countries affect the 7-member SAARC functioning? Their message seems to have got across and the other members feel heartened. Suddenly, the organisation has acquired a purpose
Leaders feel that the differences accumulated over the past 50 years of which Kashmir is a big one. are not going to be swept aside by one meeting And the Gujral -Snarif meeting was probably the first meaningful effort But both sides believe that It will take many such meetings to settle Kashmir,
even if it is the core problem. Other business cannot be stopped.
Islamabad has had a pleasant experience recently. India not only agreed to sell the 50.000 tonnes of sugar to Pakistan but also allowed its haulage by rail, most of it from Paghwara to Lahore. The SAARC's dictum to help one another came to the fore and the core problem of Kashmir was pushed into the background. Were Pakistan to deadlock the SAARC meetings in the name of Kashmir it would suffer the most.
Already a regional cooperation within SAARC — Bangladesh. Bhutan. Nepal, Sri Lanka and the eastern parts of India — Is taking shape Pakistan raised hell at the summit and got certain assurances. Still, it has not been able to stop regional grouping This is bound to happen if the overall grouping does not function. Islamabad should realise this Dhaka has gone out of the way to explain that the purpose was
not to isolate Pakistan. Bangladesh foreign secretary even visited Islamabad to assure it. Still. Pakistan must realise that the rest of SAARC countries cannot wait indefinitely. Islamabad's policy of dog in the manger has brought the organisation to grinding halt.
Take the example of Association of South East Aslan Nations (ASEAN), which is next door. Burma is a rouge elephant. There is no norm of decency which its military government has not broken. America has enacted economic sanctions against it. Still the ASEAN is scheduled to admit Myanmar in July.
SAARC is not a political entity. It is meant to provide economic cooperation. However, awkward Pakistan may feel In cooperating with SAARC without a settlement on Kashmir, it has to go along with the rest of members. Economics, not politics, is the criterion to count gains.
In fact, losses are more glaring. There are too many illicit guns in the region. Allied with them Is terrorism. SAARC has passed resolutions to combat it. But it is spreading, not shrinking. Member states are themselves encouraging terrorism. It is an open secret that they have a hand in it.
Former prime minister Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh has admitted that her government provided shelter to the leaders of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). I recalled when during her prime ministership I accosted her with photos of ULFA leaders stand-
ing in front of Bangabhaban in Dhaka. She took the pictures but kept quiet.
Pakistan's complicity In fomenting militancy in Punjab and Kashmir is a proven thing. Militants continue to get arms and haven in Pakistan. India's own record is not clean. The LTTE is its creation. Even when Sri Lanka requested New Delhi to stop training and arming Tamil militants, there was no let up in the assistance. Now the LTTE is a Frankenstein.
Had the SAARC states been cooperative in fighting terrorism, it would have seen the end of such forces by this time. The Hasina government in Bangladesh has ousted ULFA cadres from its territory. But Bhutan has owned them and given them shelter. Pakistan’s task regarding the militants In Kashmir remains unfinished. All this cannot go on if cooperation is the key word.
Even travel facilities In the SAARC countries could have lowered the walls of estrangement among them. As foreign minister, Gujral made some unilateral concessions. But it is one sided. Other countries are still dragging their feet. On the other hand, the bureaucracy is as intransigent as before. Take the case of former Bangladesh prime minister Maudud Ahmed. He was refused a visa within two days of Gujral's statement that the travel facilities have been relaxed. Pakistan's attitude is haughtier: none of its national can travel to India without getting a no-objectlon certificate. Islamabad does not give a visa to Indians except In rare cases. SAARC should attend to creating an
atmosphere whereby people of one country can contact people of another.
The categories of judges and MPs have been exempted from visa restrictions, India has unilaterally relaxed police reporting of women and children visiting from Pakistan or Bangladesh. Why they accredited journalists have not been given freedom to travel or get a multi-entry visa throughout the SAARC countries? And whatever the type of visa, at least police harassment in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh has not lessened. Nationals of one country are looked with suspicion in another. India and Pakistan are the most to blame.
Ideally, SAARC should copy the European Union or such organisations. There is no visa, no police check and not even duty restriction. They are moving towards a single currency after having established an European parliament. This is too far for SAARC. But that is where the member countries have to reach. Economically. India will have to accept some extra restrictions. We are a developed country compared to other countries in SAARC. Once I raised with the late prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto the proposal of common market. he did not accept it because according to him India was a developed nation in the region.
SAARC is a good Idea to develop the entire region with the help of member states. The vast market of India should come in handy to all the countries. The problem is that of India and Pakistan. Both will have to be cajoled into orderly behaviour.