Regional meets and task of the leadership
Syed Fattahul Alim | Tuesday, 1 July 2008
A ministerial level meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) among seven Bay of Bengal rim countries is scheduled to be held on July 9 in Dhaka. The issues that will occupy the main agenda of the meeting are agricultural development for ensuring food security as well as sharing their experiences on combating poverty especially in line with the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The main focus, however, will remain food security among the members against the backdrop of the recent trend of skyrocketing prices of food grains globally. As access to food is directly linked to poverty, the effort at attaining food security through regional level cooperation in increasing agricultural production is certainly going to be a noteworthy move in the present circumstances.
While the preparations are on to host the Bimstec ministerial level meeting in Dhaka, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama has handed over to the Chief Adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed a letter from (Sri Lanka's) president Mahinda Rajapakse. The letter invites Chief Adviser to attend the 15the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) to be held in Colombo between August 2 and 3. The issue of food security at the regional level within the ambit of Saarc will again feature in the upcoming Saarc summit with other vital issues that has grabbed global attention in recent times-energy security, sharing of regional resources and enhancing connectivity among the member countries.
Both the regional forums have Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan as common members. So, both the regional forums have majority of the issues in common. However, the founding fathers of Saarc had a greater mission of mutual understanding and cooperation among the member nations having an identical historical and cultural legacy in their minds when they created this South Asian forum more than 22 years ago than just sitting from time to time with an issue or two to discuss. The perspective of Bimstec, however, was rather narrower in the sense that it limited itself to only economic and technical cooperation among members with wider cultural and historical diversity than Saarc. So, since between the two forums Bimstec and Saarc overlap each other with Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan doubling as common members, they should have also been the busiest ones enjoying better cohesion among themselves. Unfortunately, nothing like this could be observed during the 22 years plus long history of Saarc and about a decade-long history of Bimstec. However, the saving grace is that the members of both the forums do not at least forget to sit from time to discuss the set agendas.
Considering the sheer size of the population and the close proximity among them regarding their culture and history, the two regional forums had the potential to become the most powerful engines of growth in this part of Asia. But nothing like that happened so far. Would then the upcoming ministerial meeting of Bimstec to be held in Dhaka on specific agenda of agricultural development, food security and poverty alleviation and the fully fledged summit of the Saarc nations in Colombo to address a wider range of issues around the theme "Partnership for the People of Saarc," a sharp departure from the past tradition of lack of energy and action?
The recent rise in the prices of food and energy has pushed the panic button around the globe. The prime question now is one of survival and not just competition and one-upmanship. Left to themselves, no nation can hope to solve the emerging issues affecting the life and livelihood of the peoples concerned alone. The situation on the food and energy fronts in the global as well as regional context, though it has already taken alarming proportions, should at least leave a sobering impact on the leadership of the prouder nations of the region. Add to those the yet other issues of no less importance or rather graver considering from a longer term and broader perspective. These are about the issues of environment and especially of climate change and their impact at a regional scale as well at the level of individual nations. The region, cradling an ancient civilization and home to one quarter of humanity, should rather show the world the ways to face the crises that now threaten the very existence of humanity. From that point of view, Saarc and Bimstec were ideally suited to show the way for survival and progress not only on a regional, but also on a global scale.
The central issues this time would be food and energy issues against the backdrop of unprecedented rise in the prices of the food grains and fossil fuel in the international market. Solutions to none of the issues can wait. Hopefully, the sheer pressure of the situation will compel the regional leaderships to come closer and give due importance to the specifics than luxuriate in the rosier generalities to be realized in the future.
The biggest asset of the region, especially of South Asia, more than the natural resources is its population. Unlike China, which made full use of its human resources, South Asian countries have only considered their populations as a problem rather than resource. The priorities of development and growth lie at the root of such misconceptions. Now that that rising food grain price has again put food production or agricultural development for that matter, to the forefront, it is hoped that regional leadership would now focus more on the proper utilization of the population.
The energy-intensive growth model with consumerism at its core has by now pushed the world and with it the civilisation itself to the brink of collapse. With the fossil fuel nearly depleted, search for closer alternative to fossil-based fuel has begun. Hence is the pressure on food grains, for the latter can also be used for feeding the engines that run on fossil-based energy. So the machines are now competing with man for the foods the croplands grow. What is worse, the god of the market does not discriminate between man and machine. It is all for the one that buys its commodities at a higher price. The farmers get a higher price for their food grains and can even sell those in greater quantities if taken to the fuel market. Why should then the impersonal market care for the hungry humans?
The destruction of the climate that nursed the plant and the animal kingdom for scores of millions of years has undergone some irreversible changes during last few centuries in pursuit of an energy-thrift growth paradigm. That is why, the climate change caused by global warming is another grave issue facing humanity.
Both these issues of global and regional significance should occupy the centre stage of discussion in the upcoming meetings of Bimstec and Saarc. So, the issues of agricultural development, increased food production, creating buffer stock for regional food security and a concerted effort towards achieving energy security are going to be the main concerns of these meets.
These regional meets and summits should also provide the regional leadership the opportunity to think of ways to get around the still dominant growth paradigm, which has already outlived its purpose and relevance, and show a more human-centred and environment-friendly one. That will help unleash the energy of the people to develop their own growth model and build their future in a more sustainable way regionally as well as within their own national boundaries.
The main focus, however, will remain food security among the members against the backdrop of the recent trend of skyrocketing prices of food grains globally. As access to food is directly linked to poverty, the effort at attaining food security through regional level cooperation in increasing agricultural production is certainly going to be a noteworthy move in the present circumstances.
While the preparations are on to host the Bimstec ministerial level meeting in Dhaka, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama has handed over to the Chief Adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed a letter from (Sri Lanka's) president Mahinda Rajapakse. The letter invites Chief Adviser to attend the 15the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) to be held in Colombo between August 2 and 3. The issue of food security at the regional level within the ambit of Saarc will again feature in the upcoming Saarc summit with other vital issues that has grabbed global attention in recent times-energy security, sharing of regional resources and enhancing connectivity among the member countries.
Both the regional forums have Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan as common members. So, both the regional forums have majority of the issues in common. However, the founding fathers of Saarc had a greater mission of mutual understanding and cooperation among the member nations having an identical historical and cultural legacy in their minds when they created this South Asian forum more than 22 years ago than just sitting from time to time with an issue or two to discuss. The perspective of Bimstec, however, was rather narrower in the sense that it limited itself to only economic and technical cooperation among members with wider cultural and historical diversity than Saarc. So, since between the two forums Bimstec and Saarc overlap each other with Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan doubling as common members, they should have also been the busiest ones enjoying better cohesion among themselves. Unfortunately, nothing like this could be observed during the 22 years plus long history of Saarc and about a decade-long history of Bimstec. However, the saving grace is that the members of both the forums do not at least forget to sit from time to discuss the set agendas.
Considering the sheer size of the population and the close proximity among them regarding their culture and history, the two regional forums had the potential to become the most powerful engines of growth in this part of Asia. But nothing like that happened so far. Would then the upcoming ministerial meeting of Bimstec to be held in Dhaka on specific agenda of agricultural development, food security and poverty alleviation and the fully fledged summit of the Saarc nations in Colombo to address a wider range of issues around the theme "Partnership for the People of Saarc," a sharp departure from the past tradition of lack of energy and action?
The recent rise in the prices of food and energy has pushed the panic button around the globe. The prime question now is one of survival and not just competition and one-upmanship. Left to themselves, no nation can hope to solve the emerging issues affecting the life and livelihood of the peoples concerned alone. The situation on the food and energy fronts in the global as well as regional context, though it has already taken alarming proportions, should at least leave a sobering impact on the leadership of the prouder nations of the region. Add to those the yet other issues of no less importance or rather graver considering from a longer term and broader perspective. These are about the issues of environment and especially of climate change and their impact at a regional scale as well at the level of individual nations. The region, cradling an ancient civilization and home to one quarter of humanity, should rather show the world the ways to face the crises that now threaten the very existence of humanity. From that point of view, Saarc and Bimstec were ideally suited to show the way for survival and progress not only on a regional, but also on a global scale.
The central issues this time would be food and energy issues against the backdrop of unprecedented rise in the prices of the food grains and fossil fuel in the international market. Solutions to none of the issues can wait. Hopefully, the sheer pressure of the situation will compel the regional leaderships to come closer and give due importance to the specifics than luxuriate in the rosier generalities to be realized in the future.
The biggest asset of the region, especially of South Asia, more than the natural resources is its population. Unlike China, which made full use of its human resources, South Asian countries have only considered their populations as a problem rather than resource. The priorities of development and growth lie at the root of such misconceptions. Now that that rising food grain price has again put food production or agricultural development for that matter, to the forefront, it is hoped that regional leadership would now focus more on the proper utilization of the population.
The energy-intensive growth model with consumerism at its core has by now pushed the world and with it the civilisation itself to the brink of collapse. With the fossil fuel nearly depleted, search for closer alternative to fossil-based fuel has begun. Hence is the pressure on food grains, for the latter can also be used for feeding the engines that run on fossil-based energy. So the machines are now competing with man for the foods the croplands grow. What is worse, the god of the market does not discriminate between man and machine. It is all for the one that buys its commodities at a higher price. The farmers get a higher price for their food grains and can even sell those in greater quantities if taken to the fuel market. Why should then the impersonal market care for the hungry humans?
The destruction of the climate that nursed the plant and the animal kingdom for scores of millions of years has undergone some irreversible changes during last few centuries in pursuit of an energy-thrift growth paradigm. That is why, the climate change caused by global warming is another grave issue facing humanity.
Both these issues of global and regional significance should occupy the centre stage of discussion in the upcoming meetings of Bimstec and Saarc. So, the issues of agricultural development, increased food production, creating buffer stock for regional food security and a concerted effort towards achieving energy security are going to be the main concerns of these meets.
These regional meets and summits should also provide the regional leadership the opportunity to think of ways to get around the still dominant growth paradigm, which has already outlived its purpose and relevance, and show a more human-centred and environment-friendly one. That will help unleash the energy of the people to develop their own growth model and build their future in a more sustainable way regionally as well as within their own national boundaries.