Moving towards cooperation or confrontation?
Monday, 9 November 2009
N. S. Sisodia
Better connectivity is necessary to fully utilize our geographical resources endowment. The government of India has embarked on an ambitious programme for upgradation of border infrastructure along our borders with Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. These projects involve upgradation of highways, extension of railway lines into neighbouring countries, restoration of rail links with Pakistan and Bangladesh and setting up of integrated check points. These projects would lead to improvement of infrastructure in our bordering areas and improvement of transport connectivity with them.
SAARC has also already identified a number of projects based on its regional multi-model transport study. In addition to increasing connectivity between India and its neighbours, several road corridors have been identified linking Afghanistan-Pakistan; Afghanistan-Pakistan-India-Nepal; Bangladesh-India-Nepal, etc. There is also a proposal to restore the ferry service between India and Sri Lanka through Colombo-Cochin route.
Our aspirations of full regional connectivity would not be met merely through physical connectivity. We also need to put in place enabling mechanisms to make travel freer and easier. India has taken measures to liberalise visas for students, teachers, professors, journalists and patients from SAARC countries. South Asia University is an ambitious project reflecting our effort to enhance connectivity of the mind. The SAARC University Project, which is scheduled to open in less than a year, would cater to more than 5000 students, when fully operational in five years' time.
Development cooperation is a natural and well-recognized method to promote closer regional ties. India's own fast pace of economic growth exerts a ripple effect in the region as it attracts our neighbours to access the benefits that stem from the growth of Indian market, its infrastructure, and its level of development in various fields, be it education, healthcare, financial services, and communications. As mentioned earlier, India has been actively involved in providing development assistance to its neighbours.
We have also begun discussing issues such as food security and climate change that impact on our development strategies and need our focused attention. The South Asia region is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change in particular due to potential melting of glaciers and inundation of low lying islands and coastal areas. Increased glacier melts would initially cause floods but would eventually lead to reduced water flows in our major rivers. All these developments would have severe implications for food and water security in South Asia.
India is constructively engaging in the multilateral negotiations taking place under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The main principle on which the Convention is based is the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities". We firmly believe that Climate Change should not be an excuse to add a greater burden or impose conditionalities onto the development challenges that developing countries face. We also have to move away from concentrating on 'mitigation' only and ensure that there is a focus on adaptation, which is critical for developing countries.
Cognizant of the threat that Climate Change poses, India has already taken several independent initiatives. India has launched National Action Plan on Climate Change and India stands ready to share its experience with our neighbours. There are number of areas that are relevant to them such as our mission on sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem, protection of coastal areas, disaster management strategies and collaborative research on climate change modeling.
India's relations with China, its largest neighbour is of high importance. China borders our region of South Asia, and with India alone, it shares a border of almost 3500 km. The relationship we have with China is complex but growingly variegated in texture and substance. The rapid growth of both India and China is a phenomenon that in many ways is a source of energy and dynamism in the regional and global context. We see our dialogue with China acquiring further substance and relevance in the years to come, with even more effort and political will being invested in seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement of the outstanding boundary question between the two countries. The maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas will receive close and continuing attention in this scenario. We are however conscious of the fact that outstanding issues in our relationship with China will take time to be resolved.
China's relations with our South Asian neighbours are also growing in many areas with increased trade and economic activity, political level interaction, and cultural and educational exchanges, apart from transportation links and connectivity. But the compelling logic and rationale for closer ties between our South Asian neighbours and India must not be deterred or diluted by such developments. These are ties dictated by geography, the need for security and stability, mutual economic advantage, transit and connectivity, shared cultural traditions, the movement of people, common approaches to the management of natural disasters and climate change, and developmental priorities that can only be achieved by close cooperation and constant dialogue.
On balance, we believe that we can look to the future with a sense of optimism and purpose. We stand committed to both bilateral and regional efforts in building a stable, peaceful, vibrant and economically prosperous South Asia. The year 2020 is an achievable target date and we must jointly work to this end.
This is an edited version of the keynote address by the writer, who is Foreign Secretary of the government of India to a recent Institute of Defence and Strategic Alliance Conference on South Asia 2020: Moving forwards Cooperation or Conflict?, held in New Delhi
Better connectivity is necessary to fully utilize our geographical resources endowment. The government of India has embarked on an ambitious programme for upgradation of border infrastructure along our borders with Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. These projects involve upgradation of highways, extension of railway lines into neighbouring countries, restoration of rail links with Pakistan and Bangladesh and setting up of integrated check points. These projects would lead to improvement of infrastructure in our bordering areas and improvement of transport connectivity with them.
SAARC has also already identified a number of projects based on its regional multi-model transport study. In addition to increasing connectivity between India and its neighbours, several road corridors have been identified linking Afghanistan-Pakistan; Afghanistan-Pakistan-India-Nepal; Bangladesh-India-Nepal, etc. There is also a proposal to restore the ferry service between India and Sri Lanka through Colombo-Cochin route.
Our aspirations of full regional connectivity would not be met merely through physical connectivity. We also need to put in place enabling mechanisms to make travel freer and easier. India has taken measures to liberalise visas for students, teachers, professors, journalists and patients from SAARC countries. South Asia University is an ambitious project reflecting our effort to enhance connectivity of the mind. The SAARC University Project, which is scheduled to open in less than a year, would cater to more than 5000 students, when fully operational in five years' time.
Development cooperation is a natural and well-recognized method to promote closer regional ties. India's own fast pace of economic growth exerts a ripple effect in the region as it attracts our neighbours to access the benefits that stem from the growth of Indian market, its infrastructure, and its level of development in various fields, be it education, healthcare, financial services, and communications. As mentioned earlier, India has been actively involved in providing development assistance to its neighbours.
We have also begun discussing issues such as food security and climate change that impact on our development strategies and need our focused attention. The South Asia region is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change in particular due to potential melting of glaciers and inundation of low lying islands and coastal areas. Increased glacier melts would initially cause floods but would eventually lead to reduced water flows in our major rivers. All these developments would have severe implications for food and water security in South Asia.
India is constructively engaging in the multilateral negotiations taking place under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The main principle on which the Convention is based is the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities". We firmly believe that Climate Change should not be an excuse to add a greater burden or impose conditionalities onto the development challenges that developing countries face. We also have to move away from concentrating on 'mitigation' only and ensure that there is a focus on adaptation, which is critical for developing countries.
Cognizant of the threat that Climate Change poses, India has already taken several independent initiatives. India has launched National Action Plan on Climate Change and India stands ready to share its experience with our neighbours. There are number of areas that are relevant to them such as our mission on sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem, protection of coastal areas, disaster management strategies and collaborative research on climate change modeling.
India's relations with China, its largest neighbour is of high importance. China borders our region of South Asia, and with India alone, it shares a border of almost 3500 km. The relationship we have with China is complex but growingly variegated in texture and substance. The rapid growth of both India and China is a phenomenon that in many ways is a source of energy and dynamism in the regional and global context. We see our dialogue with China acquiring further substance and relevance in the years to come, with even more effort and political will being invested in seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement of the outstanding boundary question between the two countries. The maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas will receive close and continuing attention in this scenario. We are however conscious of the fact that outstanding issues in our relationship with China will take time to be resolved.
China's relations with our South Asian neighbours are also growing in many areas with increased trade and economic activity, political level interaction, and cultural and educational exchanges, apart from transportation links and connectivity. But the compelling logic and rationale for closer ties between our South Asian neighbours and India must not be deterred or diluted by such developments. These are ties dictated by geography, the need for security and stability, mutual economic advantage, transit and connectivity, shared cultural traditions, the movement of people, common approaches to the management of natural disasters and climate change, and developmental priorities that can only be achieved by close cooperation and constant dialogue.
On balance, we believe that we can look to the future with a sense of optimism and purpose. We stand committed to both bilateral and regional efforts in building a stable, peaceful, vibrant and economically prosperous South Asia. The year 2020 is an achievable target date and we must jointly work to this end.
This is an edited version of the keynote address by the writer, who is Foreign Secretary of the government of India to a recent Institute of Defence and Strategic Alliance Conference on South Asia 2020: Moving forwards Cooperation or Conflict?, held in New Delhi