 |
Editorial2nd August 1998 |
Front Page | |
47, W. A. D. Ramanayake Mawatha Colombo 2. P.O. Box: 1136, Colombo 2.
|
||
      
|
Tackle the rootIn the afterglow or should we say after- math of the South Asian summit in Colombo, twelve 'wisemen' from the region have indicted SAARC for its lack of political will and commitment and failure to evolve a positive identity and image for the regional grouping. The Group of Eminent Persons says that for the past 12 years SAARC has to a large extent been just reacting to external situations and adjusting itself rather than building itself pro-actively and productively. The Eminent Persons also expressed concern that the latest conflict between India and Pakistan over their nuclear issue could further impede the evolution of SAARC into a dynamic body that gives dignity and equality to the 1.3 billion people of the region while giving South Asia an increasing role in world trade and production. It is becoming clear now that before tackling poverty, malnutrition, education and economic issues, SAARC must sincerely and positively address a fundamental problem- the conflict between its two biggest members India and Pakistan. We saw this in Colombo. The haphazardly organised summit-with a political row over a breach of protocol, a media mess, closed roads and surprise holidays and all that- was overshadowed by the Vajpayee-Sharif summit. But that sideline summit which stole the show also produced little or nothing obviously because India's hardline Hindu Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee was refusing to budge from the stand that Kashmir is an internal matter and cannot be taken up at or through any international forum. We saw an unprecedented media hype with some 230 foreign journalists descending on Colombo. The big brother Indians had their own media centre and in fact there were more Indian journalists than Sri Lankan journalists in town reporting SAARC. But it turned out to be a non-event. Mr. Vajpayee just would not talk Kashmir which, most objective international analysts agree, has been the core of Indo-Pakistan crisis since the partitioning of the sub-continent in 1947. The Indo-Pak crisis has cast a pall of gloom if not doom over SAARC. This is a stark reality for SAARC and the sooner it is acknowledged the sooner would the leaders be able to get down to the task of effectively addressing it. Mr. Sharif proposed at the summit that the Charter be changed for bilateral issues to be included on the agenda. But India and others are apparently not keen and the debate will go on at least till the next summit. Deep suspicion of India-which Sri Lanka also once entertained-will not help SAARC. India recently came close to changing its big brother image with the Gujral Doctrine. But domestic politics and the beating of the Hindu drum made India abandon its pacification process with its neighbours, especially Pakistan. Sri Lanka as chairman of SAARC is ideally placed to take SAARC forward by tackling the fundamental Indo-Pak issue. We are friends of both India and Pakistan but it seems clear that India does not want Sri Lanka to touch the Kashmir issue and play honest broker. Economics and trade within SAARC are of vital importance, especially for hundreds of millions of poor people in the region. Nearly half of the world's poor live within SAARC. A wag commented that here are two countries that are really cow-dung powers pretending they are nuclear powers. Crude, but true. The millions of people living in this part of the world have only cow-dung to light their hearths while billions are spent to arm the countries with nuclear warheads in self-defence. It is in such a context that South Asian leaders need to think of tackling political or bilateral issues at SAARC summits. They must go into the root of discontent, suspicion and hatred. Without first tackling that, alleviation of poverty, and other socioeconomic projects will be an exercise of sowing in the wind.
|
|
|
Please send your comments and suggestions on this web site to |
|
