Partnership for betterment of people's conditions in South Asia
Sunday, 3 August 2008
Problems of environmental and climate change, swelling food and fuel prices, economic slow-down, terrorism and new migration flows, and the risk of increasing conflicts over limited resources do generally have a regional dimension. Most of the world's conflicts occur in regions where, at least, one of the neighboring countries is also affected by conflict. There is a need for closer regional cooperation on such issues or problems with a view to preventing different types of humanitarian crisis.
In this backdrop, the 15th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), now taking place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, should try to evolve an organisation devoted to an immediate implementation of its decisions with the theme -- "partnership for the betterment of the people" in South Asia -- taking the imperatives for effective regional cooperation into consideration.
Since its inception following the formal adaptation of its charter in Dhaka, Bangladesh on December 8, 1985, the SAARC member-countries have, however, not been able to adopt realistic approaches, going beyond the politics of mistrust and suspicion. Maybe the leaders have now realised that SAARC had to evolve into a more people-centered organisation. Thus, this year's theme would be considered a progression from last year's one of connectivity. The Colombo Summit is also expected to decide, at the request of Australia and Myanmar, to grant them the observer status with the SAARC. China, Iran, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mauritius, the USA, and the EU were already granted such a status last year.
The partnerships among the SAARC member-countries do need to include the exchange of their experiences about peace and reconciliation measures, dialogues on reducing vulnerability to different types of humanitarian crisis, efforts to increase understanding of risk and conflict, and discussions on emergency response, gender issues and crisis management, with a view to strengthening local capacity.
But the SAARC has not yet been able to build such partnerships among its member countries. The disputes between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, the acrimony between Pakistan and Afghanistan over the militants' issue, the 'conflict' between India and Bangladesh over border issues, human and drug trafficking, cross-border terrorism, water sharing and so on, are still holding back progress on effective regional cooperation in South Asia.
Several areas were earlier identified at various meetings and summits of the SAARC to promote regional cooperation in areas of agriculture and rural development, health and population activities, women, youth and children, environment and forestry, science and technology and meteorology, transport and human resource development. But the countries in South Asia are still now facing the challenges of terrorism, food security, and energy crisis. Heads of state and government leaders of the SAARC do need to find out shared solutions and adopt a series of measures with the main focus on a joint approach to combating terrorism, maximizing energy and water resources, food security, and poverty alleviation in right earnest. In reality, the SAARC has not been able to show its effectiveness as a regional cooperative body through tangible action-oriented measures and their benefits for the wider members of the public in South Asia.
It is time for the SAARC to move firmly towards the implementation of its several initiatives, keeping in mind the need for a regional focus and orientation, particularly in the light of the global food, energy etc. crises. All concerned would hope that the SAARC summit in Colombo would be able to move the process of regional cooperation effectively ahead, in view of the present-day realities and common problems that the counties in South Asia face now.
Ripan Kumar Biswas
Ripan.biswas@yahoo.com
In this backdrop, the 15th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), now taking place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, should try to evolve an organisation devoted to an immediate implementation of its decisions with the theme -- "partnership for the betterment of the people" in South Asia -- taking the imperatives for effective regional cooperation into consideration.
Since its inception following the formal adaptation of its charter in Dhaka, Bangladesh on December 8, 1985, the SAARC member-countries have, however, not been able to adopt realistic approaches, going beyond the politics of mistrust and suspicion. Maybe the leaders have now realised that SAARC had to evolve into a more people-centered organisation. Thus, this year's theme would be considered a progression from last year's one of connectivity. The Colombo Summit is also expected to decide, at the request of Australia and Myanmar, to grant them the observer status with the SAARC. China, Iran, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mauritius, the USA, and the EU were already granted such a status last year.
The partnerships among the SAARC member-countries do need to include the exchange of their experiences about peace and reconciliation measures, dialogues on reducing vulnerability to different types of humanitarian crisis, efforts to increase understanding of risk and conflict, and discussions on emergency response, gender issues and crisis management, with a view to strengthening local capacity.
But the SAARC has not yet been able to build such partnerships among its member countries. The disputes between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, the acrimony between Pakistan and Afghanistan over the militants' issue, the 'conflict' between India and Bangladesh over border issues, human and drug trafficking, cross-border terrorism, water sharing and so on, are still holding back progress on effective regional cooperation in South Asia.
Several areas were earlier identified at various meetings and summits of the SAARC to promote regional cooperation in areas of agriculture and rural development, health and population activities, women, youth and children, environment and forestry, science and technology and meteorology, transport and human resource development. But the countries in South Asia are still now facing the challenges of terrorism, food security, and energy crisis. Heads of state and government leaders of the SAARC do need to find out shared solutions and adopt a series of measures with the main focus on a joint approach to combating terrorism, maximizing energy and water resources, food security, and poverty alleviation in right earnest. In reality, the SAARC has not been able to show its effectiveness as a regional cooperative body through tangible action-oriented measures and their benefits for the wider members of the public in South Asia.
It is time for the SAARC to move firmly towards the implementation of its several initiatives, keeping in mind the need for a regional focus and orientation, particularly in the light of the global food, energy etc. crises. All concerned would hope that the SAARC summit in Colombo would be able to move the process of regional cooperation effectively ahead, in view of the present-day realities and common problems that the counties in South Asia face now.
Ripan Kumar Biswas
Ripan.biswas@yahoo.com