STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONAL ASPEC'I'S OF SAARC - …shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/6534/10/10... ·  · 2015-12-04STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONAL ASPEC'I'S OF SAARC ... SAARC Food Security

CHAPTER IV

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONAL ASPEC'I'S OF SAARC

SAARC Group of Erninent Persons

Institutional Structure of S M C

Recommendations 93

Interaction with other International Organization 96

Financial resources of SAARC 97

Important SAAUC Institutions 97

Council of Minister's. Meeting 98

Technical Committe~:~ 99

Committee on Economic Co-operation (CEP) 99

Informal Consultations on Political and Security Issues 102

SAARC: Process of [nstitutionalisation of Regional Co-operation 104

Nature and Frequency of SAARC Summits 105

Second Summit Conference 1 1 1

Third Summit Conference 114

Fourth Summit Conference 115

Fifth Summit Conference 116

Sixth Summit Conference 118

Seventh Summit Co~~ference 119

Eighth Summit Conference 120

SAPTA and SAFTA 121

SAARC Summits (Table) 128

SAARC was formed on December 8, 1985 at Dhaka. In the words of

the former Secretary General. Nihal Rodngo: "it has progressed from a

hopeful, if tentative and cautiois beglnnlng, through often ambitious, if also

declaratory stages to the present when it faces daunting challenges within as

well as from outside the region."'

4.1 SAARC Group of Eminent Persons

The SAARC group of eminent persons (GEP) set-up at the ninth

summit at Male in 1997, listed out some of these achievements.

1. The formation of the Integrated Programme of Action (IPA)

2. The gradual developmei~t of a comprehensive agenda on the most

pressing social concerns of the member states

3. Establishment of fine regional centres to supplement the work of the

Technical Committees

4. SAARC Regional convertion on Suppression of Terrorism (1988)

5 . SAARC Convention on Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

(1 990)

6. SAARC Food Security R1:serve

7. Other achievements on people to people contacts have been in the

S M C Audio-visual E:;change Programme, setting up of SAARC

chairs, Fellowships and Scholarship schemes, SAARC Volunteer

Exchange Programme and the SAARC visa Exemption scheme.*

I Remarks of the SAARC Secretary General, Nihal Rodrigo at the inaugural ceremony of the SAARC senior officials meetings at Colombo, November 13, 2000.

2 SAARC Vision Beyond the Year 2000, Report of the SAARC Group of Eminent Persons, p. 11.

In spite of it, the GEP w:is of the view that though the achievements

were good, they did not fulfil the real "aspirations underlying the formation

of sAARc."~ The reality differed by the end of the last century. The GEP

highlighted the following points as the limitations of the SAARC process

1 . SAARC did not emerge as a powerful regional grouping; progress

under SAPTA was very :;low. The organization has not evolved any

collective measures for g18,bal economic negotiations

2. Several collective decisions remained unexecuted even in those spheres

where agreements were arrived at limitations of the resources stood

on the way to progress unier the IPA.

3. Facilities under the SAARC security reserve have never been utilized

4. The people to people interaction remained inactive

5 . Taking into consideration of the limitations in social sector co-operation,

the Report observed that, besides producing written studies not much

had been achleved in The main objectives of the SAARC

were: "promoting the welfare of the peoples of the countries and

improving their quality cf life, accelerated economic growth, social

progress and cultural deve : l~~ment . "~

4.2 Institutional Structure of SAARC

The 11" SAARC summit was supposed to be held from 4 January

2002 at Kathmandu. It was a gcod development because the world changed

drastically during thls period. The summit was supposed to examine

important issues facing South Asia in the context of global changes which

base challenges as well as offer opportunities to South Asian countries.

Ibid. 4 Ibid., p.3. 5 Ibid., p.7.

92

The SAARC secretariat announced that an additional half-day was to

be devoted completely for foc~lsed discussion on the Report of the group of

eminent persons (GEP). It ma) be noted here that GEP was set-up by the 9th

SAARC Summit held at Male in 1997. The GEP was supposed to cany out

a comprehensive appraisal of !SAARC, and identify steps and techniques to

further improve the effectiv1:ness of the Association in achieving its

objectives. Besides thls, a significant dimension of the mandate of the GEP

was to define a vision for SAARC, and to identify and clarify the

fundamental aspects of a perspective plan of action, comprising a SAARC

Agenda for 2000 and beyond.

The f i s t Summit held in December 1985 at Dhaka adopted the charter

formally establishing the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation

(SAARC). The charter defiled the objectives the doctrine and the

institutional structure of SAAF32. It may be mentioned here that SAARC was

set-up nearly three decades alter the advent of the European community

(1957), two decades after the b.rth of ASEAN (1967), and a full decade after

the East &can Economic Conlmunity emerged in 1975.

The charter makes some reference in regard to the setting up of the

secretariat, without mentioning its organization, function and role. It almost

took years to establish the secretariat in January 1987 at Kathmandu

pursuant of the decision of the ~:ouncil of ministers and following the sigmng

by the Foreign Ministers of S.4ARC member states of a memorandum of

understanding (MOU). In its initial stages, the secretariat was controlled

by three director and a few g:neral staff to help the secretary general to

93

cany out the assigned duties and responsibilities. The main role of the

Secretary General is to co-orclinate and monitor the execution of SAARC

activities, service the meetings of the association, and help and serve as

the mechanism of communica1:ion between SAARC and other international

and regonal organization.

By 1991, the number of directors increased to seven and a meagre

augmentation of general staff. After that, the functions and responsibilities of

the Secretary General and the secretariat got greatly enhanced, but without

giving the Secretariat with additional manpower and other resources.

4.3 Recommendations

Secretary General

The present status of th: Secretary General is to be uplifted to that of

a cabinet minister. This would crate more access to the heads of states and

government of the member states. The Secretary General should be gven

more flexibility for taking mee.sures and take follow-up action in monitoring

and analysing reasons for lack of progress in executing the decisions taken at

the high level meetings of the Council of Ministers and in particular at the

successive summit meetings. Elesides his interaction with other organizations

of regional and international n.lture, the Secretary General should be allowed

to have the powers to establish contacts at the ... . political levels. The

same way the enhanced stalus should enable the Secretary General to

establish continuous relationships and interactions with International

organizations, multilateral donor agencies and others in pursuit of SAARC

attempts to achieve its ob~ectives.

In the begmmng, the tenure of appointment of the Secretary General

was approved for a period of two years. Afterwards it was extended to three

years. According to GEP, it should be further extended to five years. It was

felt that this would enable the continuity of implementation process, apart

&om placing the secretary General at part with the tenure of heads of other

regional and international organizations. It was also recommended that the

Secretary general should be appointed by the SAARC summit. It was also

felt that the prevailing system of appointing the Secretary General by

national rotation is to be reviewed to help the SAARC summit to appoint the

Secretaxy General on merit with due regard to sufficient representation of the

member states.

Directors

There are seven directors, next to the Secretary General. Each

Director is in charge of a particular area in the Secretariat. At present,

Directors are nominated by their national governments, who used to pay all

their allowances from their respective national exchanges but now, they are

paid by the SAARC Secretarial.. It may be mentioned here that the Secretary

General has hardly any say in ihe selection of Directors, except to issue, the

usual letter of appointment showing the specific areas of their activity. It is

felt that each national govemnent must nominate a panel of their names

showing their experience and. qualifications. If necessary, the Secretary

General should personally in1:erview each candidate and make his final

selection. This would create a situation, wherein the distribution of

responsibilities in the Secretariat wodd be properly balanced and thereby,

95

cover all activities with equa. proficiency. The Directors must get their

emoluments from the SAlZRC Secretariat on the basis of their entitlement

and not from their national excllanges.

An appointment by the Secretary General, the Directors should take

an oath to cany out their responsibilities for achieving the objectives of the

SAARC charter. The context of the oath should be that in their capacity as

SAARC civil servants they will not look for any instructions or favour fkom

any government of SAARC member states. The purpose is to promote their

loyalty and allegiance to the Secretary General of SAARC. This is a usual

practice prevailing in almost all regional and international organizations.

Professional Experts

One of the important weaknesses in the structure of the SAARC

secretariat is the absence of highly qualified and experienced professional

experts. The gradual expans:on of SAARC, as approved by successive

SAARC summits, especially the transition from SAPTA to SAFTA, the

customs union and related integrative steps leading upto the establishment of

a South Asian Economic community by 2010 needs immediate induction of

professionals of high calibre in the secretariat. These professionals must be

selected fkom within South A3ia. For retaining the budgetary burden to the

minimum, at least two to thrc:e professionals should be selected very soon

and appointed by the Secretaqf General.

For filling the necessity for expertise and research, the Secretary

General should take suitable measures to benefit fro111 the research being

carried out on particular sub.jects by spec~alists and centres of excellence

within the region. For this purpose the secretariat should have a standing

network of institutions, within the region, whose services could be readily

drawn upon.

4.4 Interaction with other International Organization

The leaders of South Asian countries felt that SAARC should be

made an outward looking organization. Accordingly, SAARC has to move

away fiom its initial wariness (of exposing to the world community at large

and particularly to other regional groupings, international and regional

organizations and agencies. It would be highly impracticable to believe that

in an inter-dependent and globalized world, SAARC could prosper in

isolation. SAARC has to open its doors to mutually beneficial co-operation

with other groupings and agen1:ies without compromising its independence.

In the context of recent developments, especially in the recent expansion in

the sphere of co-operation, which is supposed to grow and widen, it has

become essential for SAARC to foster closer relationships with similar

organizations, especially those whch have experience of functional regional

co-operation and in starting free trade areas, customs unions and social

integration. The same way, ittimate relationships must be made within

the UN system in regard tc~ the same subjects, and especially, with

UNCTAD, UNICEF, WTO, ASEAN free trade area and the European Union

etc. These interactions should be within the overall framework approved

by the SAARC summits

Besides this, intimate arid continuous contact must be retained with

the help of international financing agencies such as UNDP, the Asian

Development Bank and the 'Norld Bank for the purpose of mobilizing

technical assistance and financial resource for SAARC programmes and

other related projects. It is felt by the leaders of South Asian countries that

the Secretary General of SAARC must have the powers and authonty to take

initiatives in this respect.

4.5 Financial resources of SAARC

It is clear that for the purpose of carrying out the expending activities

and programmes, and projects, the member states are supposed to look

for the budgetary resources oj' the association. Each member state should

enhance its annual financial contributions.

4.6 Important SAARC Institutions

It is essential to have a review of the important institutions of

SAARC.

Summit meetings

It is very important to maintain the annual cycle of Summit Meetings.

According to the SAARC chruter, summit meetings should be held at least

once in a year. It means that with the expansion of areas of co-operation,

necessity will arise to hold more than one annual summit meeting.

In the past, summits were postponed mainly for political reasons as a

result of strained bilateral and political relations between member states.

This is a serious contradiction because it violates the basic general provision

of the charter that there shculd be proper bilateral relations. However,

bilateral relations were used to postpone summits. Sudden postponement of a

summit upsets the entire schedule of related meetings, especially meetings of

the council of ministers, the standing committee and sectoral meetings etc.

98

The summit meetings should be of more business like by cutting down

on ceremonial aspects. In fact, the pre-summit sessions of the council of

ministers are supposed to be preparatory meetings for the summits, whlch

have remained the backbone of the SAARC process. The summit leaders are

supposed to explicitly focus on specific issues of vital importance and need

not be burdened with peripheral issues. Quite often, lack of political will and

non-implementation of decisions taken at the hlgher level of summits stood on

the way to the co-operation among member states of South Asian countries.

The strength and vitality of SAARC wiil remain incomplete without

reinforcing the commitment of the member states to move beyond

formalistic proclamations about the vision of SAARC to effective execution

of the plans and programmes for achieving the main goals and objectives set

forth in the SAARC charter. [n a way, the practice of giving a relaxed

atmosphere to the leaders by taking them to the "Retreat" is a very good

programme and really motivi~ted and purposeful. But, experience has

revealed that much time need not be spent in travelling to the site of the

Retreat. The purpose of the summit should be to create a sustained and result

oriented interaction. As far as possible, the Retreat should be held at the site

of the summit meeting or its close vicinity.

4.7 Council of Minister's Meeting

It may be mentioned here that the council of Foreign ministers

meeting should carefully carry out preparatory work for the summit. With

the help and assistance of the standing committee, it should prepare action-

oriented working papers, con~prising recommendations to facilitate the

99

leaders to take prompt and time and contextual decisions. The expansion

of the scope of the meetings of the council of ministers, particularly its

pre-summit meetings, would help the concerned authorities to hold joint

ministerial meetings on particular issues and problems, bringing together

ministers from concerned sectoral ministries of member-states.

4.8 Technical Committees

The establishment of a host of technical committees (1 1) was perhaps

essential in the first few years of SAARC. The main objective and motive

was to exchange information md other basic data in the agreed areas of

co-operation by bringing together concerned officials in the various annual

meetings of the technical comrr~ittees. In the course of time with the passage

of time and quick expansion of IT and other modem technological means,

the contribution of the technical committees declined and became

ineffective. Though the total n m b e r of the technical committees has been

reduced from 11 to 7, it is suggested and further recommended that all the

technical committees should be abolished. That step would reduce the

burden on the secretariat in mol~ilizing and organizing many meetings almost

in that year, and also result in jinancial savings by the secretariat as well as

by the member states. Two high level committees as mentioned below

should replace the technical conlmittees.

4.9 Committee on Economic Co-operation (CEP)

This is supposed to play the leading role in taking initials for

achieving economic co-operation in South Asia and executing decision of the

higher SAARC bodies.

Social committees

This is supposed to be concerned with all social issues, including

poverty alleviation, and social charter, etc. these committees and other

meetings are supposed to be held at the SAARC secretariat by evolving the

present premises, including the conference hall and recruiting additional

staff for serving the increasing ]lumber of meetings.

Regional Centres

The following Regional Centres were set-up over the years.

1 . SAARC Agricultural Information Centre (SAIC) at Dhaka in 1988

2 . SAARC Tuberculosis Centre (STC) at Kathmandu in 1992

3. SAARC Documentation Centre (SDC) at New Delhi in 1994

4. SAARC Meteorological 'Centre (SAC) at Dhaka in 1995

5 . SAARC Human Resource Development Centre (SHRDC) at Islamabad

These institutions mentimed above have not emerged as recogmzed

centres of excellence in the Region. They have been doing only routine

activities and cannot be easily distinguished from the National Centres with

which they are associated. These centres are supposed to be under the

overall supervision and direction of the Secretary General who should

personally monitor their result.

Focal point of SAARC

They have played significant role in the S.4ARC process and its

progress over the years. They have also led to the suggestion of certain

particular initiatives and creat~ng co-ordination and implementation of the

association's plans and programmes. Hence, it is essential to provide all

101

NFPs with sufficient manpower resources with the responsibilities. The

connection between the NFPs and the SAARC secretariat and the sectoral

ministries are to be made powr:rful.

SAARC and civil society

Primarily, SAARC has an inter-governmental bureaucratic organization.

It kept away from the civil :societies of its member states. The SAARC

chamber of commerce and industry was set-up in the year 1992, SAARC

Law (1994) and South Asian Media Association (SAMA), etc.

In recent times, a significant and innovative initiative was taken by

the coalition for action on South Asian Co-operation (CASAC), a non-

governmental organization with Regional chapters in all South Asian

countries. Efforts made by CASAC led to the setting up of a hlgh level group

called: 'the citizens commission for South Asia.' The commission consisted

of some of the vely famous personalities of south Asia to examine the

critical problems and issues of development and security facing South Asia,

and to make comprehensive suggestions to the leaders and policy makers of

SAARC member states to overcome the difficulties and problems whlch

have so far prevented SAARC from realizing its potential. The citizen's

commission holds its first ses:;ion in December 2000 at Kathmandu under

the chairmanship of the former Primer Minister of India, I.K. Gujral. It

comprised eminent South Asian personalities like Nobel Laureate Prof.

Amaratya Sen and Dr. Manmohan Singh from India, Dr. Kamal Hussain and

Prof. Mohammad Yunus frcm Bangladesh, Sher Bahadur Deuba and

Dr. Devendra Raj Pandey from Nepal, Mr. Sartaj Aziz and Ms. Asma Jehangu

fiom Pakistan, Dr. Ial Jayawardene and Dr. Radhlka Coomaraswamy from

Sri Lanka, Abdus Sattar, Moose Didi from Maldives and Lyompodava

Tsering from Bhutan.

The first session of the citizen's commission showed the begnning of

a process in which various sector of the civil society can be mobilized to

work together to strengthen 11e official and non-official framework for

reg~onal co-operation. The conmission emphasized that different sectors of

civil society are to be involved in order that there has to be progress in the

sphere of regional co-operaticn. Accordingly, they are also supposed to

identify the jobs that lay ahead, at government level as well as at the level of

civil society. The commission also emphasized that the activities of SAARC

should have quick impact on the lives of the people, which is the main

objective of SAARC. The commission visualized itself as an objective

critical evaluator of the progres:; towards regonal co-operation and its role in

the days to come. Hence, it suggested to hold meetings at regular intervals in

order to discuss and examine various important issues and problems so that

there can come into existence E r n environment in which South Asian Regon

could go forward with hope asp rations and confidence.

4.10 Informal Consultations8 on Political and Security Issues

At the 9th SAARC sumrnit held in 1997 at Male, the seven leaders

recognized that regonal integration could beg~n from mutual trust and

understanding among its mem1)ers. It is the unsettled problems and issues

that create an environment for rebqonal co-operation and integration.

103

The SAARC leader further recognized that motive of encouraging peace,

stability, secured and quick soc:io-economic co-operation can be achieved in

a proper way by creating good neighbourly relations, reducing tensions and

building up confidence among South Asian countries. To this end, the 9"

summit took an important decision in order to initiate a process of informal

political consultations to redwe tension in the repon. This decision was

taken in spite of the inhibiting limitations imposed by the SAARC charter,

which is not in favour of disc~ssion of bilateral and contentions issues. It

was felt that immediate decision and necessity should be to create the

regional co-operation at any cost.

In this context, the experience of other regonal groupings can provide

practical guidelines, ASEAN had decided to set-up ARF, whlle the European

union has evolved an effective OSCE to examine the political and security issues

in their respective regions. In South Asia, the absence of such a forum has stood

on the way of progress towards creating mutual trust and confidence, which are

very essential for regional co-cperation and integration. Apart fTom thls, at

present, the concepts llke peace, security and development have expanded to

such an extent that it covers multidimensional areas of problems and issues

influencing, affecting and creating an impact on civil security in South Asian

Regional. The focus is now on human security and economic security, and

the purpose of development has shlfted fTom the governmental authority to

indvidual citizens. It was felt earlier that the SAARC leaders at the summit

beginning kom 4 Jan- 2002 i ~ t Kathmandu would direct the suitable organs

of SAARC to discuss the sug;3est1on aiming at setting up a South Asian

security forum.

In fact, South Asia has been vely slow to respond and benefit from the

worldwide wave and impact o € quick change in the sphere of technological

development. As a result of tht: technological developments, there has taken

place drastic changes in the political developments all over the world. It may

be remembered that many countries in the world have overcome difficulties

and problems. Second world arar was very serious than the First World War

mainly because of the fact that many powers in Europe, along with their

colonial people, were greatly involved in this International theatre of war. It

is a matter to be noted here that South Asia is at the cross roads today in

every way. At the same time, the rest of the world is moving rapidly towards

peace, stability and developn~ent. It may be mentioned here that Afncan

continent and south Asian regim are involved in conflicts and poverty.

4.11 SAARC: Process of Institutionalisation of Regional Co-operation

In the course of these years, SAARC has faced many challenges in

terms of its smooth functioning as well as its capability to deliver what

is expected of it. SAARC has created more than 30 bodies and institutions

at the governmental level 10 organizations are affiliated to the SAARC

secretariat. It has also identified a series of areas of co-operation. The

association has undergone thm: expansionary phase and is moving towards

the stage of consolidation ;md concentration. It has gven a platform

for South Asian societies for recognizing themselves to be bound by a

common destiny. It has focussd on the techniques by which SAARC can be

made effective.

The process of institutionalisation of Regional Co-operation is related

to the actions being carried ou.: on a regular basis by the organs and bodies

of SAARC.

4.12 Nature and Frequency of SAARC Summits

In fact, SAARC is sumzit-centric. In the absence of the summit, the

activities of the other bodies of SAARC have been treated as insigmficant.

Till today, a number of SAARC summits took place since its inception

in 1985 .~ Four summits were held annually over the four years i?om 1985-

1988, in alphabetical order rc:spectively in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and

Pakistan, with the exception c~f Bhutan. The fifth summit took place after

two years. The other summits took place at gaps of one or two years.

According to the S U l Z charter: "the heads of states or government

shall meet once a year or were often as an when considered necessary by

member state^."^ The annual summit of the heads of states is mandatory

under the charter. Two questions come up in this context: first, why the

summits have not been organized annually as mentioned in the charter?

Second, has there been any important difference in the operation of the

association between organizing and not organizing annually?

Political environment iri South Asian countries was the main reason

why summit had to be postpo:led. Moreover, the state of bilateral relations

also caused non-participation in summits. It may be mentioned here that the

summit conference of heads o:? states or governments is the highest political

6 The 1" Summit, Dhaka, 7-8 December 1985, 9-;O 7 Article iii of the Charter.

106

level decision making body in SAARC. Therefore, it comes very important

political commitments to run the association in comparison to the decision of

other bodies of SAARC. That (charter does not mention any subjects directly

to be treated by heads of states or government. The annual summit has given

an opportunity to SAARC mcmber states for having formal and informal

bilateral meetings on the guidelines of the summit. Definitely, this has an

impact on the decline of bilateral visits between the regions. Thls kind of

annual summits have also 1':d to the creation of communication and

co-ordination between the leader in a direct manner or different problems

and issues of interests to them.

The decision of the summit is reflected in the declaration issues at the

end of each summit. The subject matter covered by the declaration of the

summit has increased every year. Declaration condemned decision, points

agreed and commitments mad(: by political leaders. The practice of issuing

joint press releases was dis~ontinued from the sixth summit held at

Colombo. The format of the: declaration has changed since then. The

SAARC summit takes place after the preparation made by meetings of the

SAARC council of ministers and standing committee at their by annual

meetings. In the absence oi' the meetings of the heads of states or

government, the decision on the matters in regard to regonal co-operation

could be taken up by the council of ministers. In case the summit takes place

in a period of two years there is no negative impacts on the operation of

SAARC as the council of ministers has the power to makes the policies of'

the association and to execute them accordingly.

Standing committee

The standing cornmittec: comprises foreign secretaries of SAARC

member states and it has played a very constructive role in taking initiatives

for launching regional co-operai:ion in South Asia. The standing committee, a

charter body assigned to overall monitoring and co-ordination of

programmes of co-operation, initially identified five areas and later on

eleven areas for regional co-operation. Identification of the spheres of

co-operation have enabled in starting the integrated programme of action

(IPA) that is carried by the different technical committees. The budgets of

the secretariat and the regional centres are examined and approved by the

standing committee. The programming committee consisting of senior

officials of the ministry of Foreign Affairs assists in the discussions and

deliberations of the issues by th,: standing committee.

Action Committees

The concept of sub regional co-operation has been included into the

SAARC Charter for executing the projects involving more than two, but not

all member states. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal have advanced the

idea of South Asian growth quadrangle.8 The purpose is to create a model of

sub regonal co-operation based on the particular condition, needs and

interests of the participating countries.

Regional funds

The South Asian Develo2ment Fund (SADF) was founded in the year

1996 to provide finances for indusrr~al development, poverty alleviation,

8 Article vii.

and protection of the environment and balance of payment support. The fund

has three areas:

1. Identification of develop~nent projects

2. Institutional and human resource development projects

3. Social and infrastructure development projects

The SAARC member stittes have contributed funds for item number

one. The fund has an adhoc secretariat moving along with a chairmanship.

The government of Japan has given a special fund to assist in the execution

of SAARC projects and activities. Chosen by SAARC many of the activities

under the SAARC Japan specia fund have been of a short-term nature.

Institutional Mechanism

The SAARC Charter revzaled some hurdles that needed to be crossed,

if co-operation was to materialize. The principle of unanimity in the Charter

for decision-making is a double-edged weapon. While it assured that there is

no ganging up against any one member, there is also scope for manipulation

of the forum through any one member, thereby effectively sabotaging all

co-operations.

Also to be borne in mind, were the objectives listed in Arhcle 1 of the

Charter. It spoke of welfare of the peoples of the region, of improving their

quality of life, accelerating economic growth, social progress and cultural

development, of collective self-reliance, of joint collaboration and mutual

assistance in various fields including economic etc. But SAARC and its

integrated programmes of action, actually &d not measure up to these

aspirations

The present institutional arrangement has little scope to gve adequate

attention to the financial arrangements. As the financial arrangements are

confined to voluntary contribiitions, and the contributions made in local

currencies (non-convertible), they can be utilized only in the counhy concerned.

Even in terms of convertibility, tieir values are m sharp variations

Thus, one could summarize the difficulties in utilizing the h d s for

common programmes of regional co-operation. The elements of uncertainty

were strong enough. Therefore, there had been a woeful lack of sufficient

national progress with regard to a number of schemes of regional

co-operation, for instance, in respect of establishing a South Asia Centre for

Research and Development in Postal Services; Regional Software

Telecommunication Centre, or Regonal Meteorological Research Centre.

It is important to be noted here that the institutiorial framework hardly

had made any headway at the r~on-governmental level. Of course, it had been

argued that once real co-cperation got momentum, the institutional

framework would come automatically. However, it should be reminded that

for any sort of co-operation, there is a need for minimum infrastructural

linkages.

The importance of an institutional framework should not be over-

stressed, though it should not be under estin~ated. Central mechanism is

not always an essential pre-8:ondition for regonal co-operation. Rather,

manifestation of political will is of paramount importance.

9 See, LN. Mukherjee: South Asian Regional Co-operation: Paper presented in the Seminar Organised by the School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi, 1985, pp-12-14,

Instih~tional Framework

Meetings of the Head of States or

Governments

(Consisting the Head of States or Governments of Member State)

"Council of Ministers"

(Consisting of the Foreign Ministers of the Member States)

Standing Committees

(Comprised of Foreign Secretaries of the Member States)

Technical Committees Secretariat Action Committees (Comprised of (Headed by the Secretary (Con~prised of member

representatives of all General to be nominhted states concerned with the member states) by the member states on implementation of

rotation basis) particular projects)

Thus, to sum up, the ir~stitutional mechanism is largely an evolving

process, which slowly evolves out of expanded co-operation for which

political will is a neces sq precondition. The South Asian regonal

co-operation had also evolved a sort of institutional mechanism of its own.

The strong subjective factors for the creation of a well-htted organizational

structure of the association had been often over-powered by objective

conditions of the South Asian regon, manifesting themselves in the

constitutional flaws and lacunae. Nevertheless, the Charter has provided for

sufficient arrangements for the fulfilment of those listed objectives for which

this Association was created."

A look at the Charter of SAARC reveals that its drafters took special

precautions and extra pains sc' as to keep thmgs confined within the four

walls of co-operation, which has relevance only to economic, and other non-

political activities. This fact, together with the rule of unanimity and the

requirement that the bilateral and contentious issues are to be excluded from

SAARC's deliberations, truly reflected the South Asian political reality. The

Association could not have come into being had it not commenced in a very

limited and tentative fashion, end if it had not taken special precautions to

avoid rapid institutional and agenda-budding escalation.

4.13 Second Summit Conference

The Second Summit lelcel meeting of SAARC leaders was held in

Bangalore, the garden city of Southern In&a on November 16-18, 1986.

Inaugurating the conference, the Indian, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandh stressed

the need for peace and referred that the m i s race 'distorts economies' and

'waste resources' could be used to ameliorate the human miseries. He urged

the seven nations not to waste time and resources "reinventing the wheel"

and move on to newer and core areas of regional co-operation.

President Ershad said that development of common natural resources,

Himalayan resources and resources of the sea could be areas of mutually

beneficial co-operation.lo Pakistan Premier M.K. Junejo, in his speech,

offered Pakistan's "co-operation in any form and at any level among the

SAARC countries to elirninats: the threat of terrorism," and suggested a

"binding agreement" to meet the challenge collectively." The suggestion

was not commented upon by th': others.

As expected, Sri Lankan President Jayewardene did refer to what he,

termed as the "terrorist problem in Sri Lanka", and recounting the various

developments since 1983, sought the end to violence. In his remarks, clearly

directed at the T;lmil militants in India, he said, "whatever form of agitation

is used to attain the political goals, it must be non-violent and we cannot

compromise with violen~e." '~

Though Jayewardene dilated on the issue and made several off the

cuff remarks, his tenor appear8:d even and less than acrimonious. In sharp

contrast, the Pakistan Premier sought to rake up several issues that appeared

to have direct bearing only on bilateral relations with India.

10 Indian Express, New Delhi, 17 Ncvember 1986 I' Ceylon Daily News, Colombo, 18 Vovember 1986 l2 Indian Express, New Delhi, 17 Nc'vember 1986

President Gayoom of t t e Maldives highlighted the tensions caused

by super power rivalry in the Ocean." King Birendra of Nepal warned that

wrongly perceived, the differences and variety in the region could cause

dissension and destabilisation He saw the birth of "a new spring" of

co-operation in SAARC.'~

Moreover, the submit had not only opened up a new horizon for

SAARC, but had provided India with unique opportunity to lead SAARC along

the path of growing trust and confidence in unity in diversity and closer

co-operation in raising the quality of life of all the peoples of the reBon.

Besides the Summit outcomes, an important by-product of the

Bangalore Summit was the decision to resume the stalled process of

normalization of Indo-Pakistan relations. A step-by-step approach in this

regard was agreed upon during President Zia-ul-Haq's stopover in New

Delhi on his way home from Dhaka in December 1985. The then Indian

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President of Sri Lanka J.R. Jayewardene

utilized the opportunity afforded by the summit to further the process of a

negotiated settlement of the ettnic problem in Sri Lanka. Jayewardene, who

vexed eloquent on the virtues of non-violence at the summit, showed a spirit

of accommodation in offering to improve upon the proposals, formulated by

him earlier to meet the Tamil xspirations through devolution of powers. In

agreeing to merge a part of the Eastern province with the predominantly

Tamil Northern province, he ha'S made a significant concession.

13 Statesman, New Delhi, 17 Noveml~er 1986 l4 Times of India, New Delhi, 17 Nv~ember 1986

4.14 Third Summit Conferc:nce

Third summit level meeting of SAARC was held in Kathmandu on

November 2-4, 1987. Opening the summit, King Birendra told the leaders

that terrorists were threatening peace in the region, and they should be given

no room in any country within or outside its territory.

New initiatives and dilemmas came to the fore at the Third summit

meeting in Nepal. Just before the Summit was convened, Afghanistan

applied for membership in SAARC, and it was also suggested that ASEAN

should be accorded the status of observer or guest. However, as the basic

documents of SAARC contained no provisions for the admission of new

members, observers or guests, the Summit was faced with new problems

requiring resolution. No corisensus was reached on the admission of

Afghanistan largely because of the conflicting stands of Pakistan (which

opposed the motion) and India (which supported it).

The SAARC heads of state or government condemned all terrorist

acts and methods, and the practice of terrorism; they applauded the

conclusion of a regional convention to combat terrorism. They expressed

happiness at the signing of a document namely "The SAARC Regonal

Convention on Suppression of errori ism"'^ and considered it as a hlstor~c

step towards the prevention, and elimination of terrorism from the regon.

The document defined the concept of terrorist acts and specified the

obligations of the member countries in t h s context, especially their pledge

l5 SAARC Regional Convent~on or, Suppression of Terrorism (Kathmandu: Secretariat of the SAARC) pp. 1-7.

115

not to permit on their territory preparations for terrorist acts against

other SAARC member countries. The convention likewise provided for the

extradition of terrorists in specific crises. According to press comments, the

convention marked great success for it was not certain, until the summit was

drawing to close, whether it wcluld be signed at all.

4.15 Fourth Summit Conference

The Fourth SAARC Summit, which was held in Islamabad during

29-31 December 1988, marked a turning point in the history of the world's

largest and yet youngest venture in regonal co-operation. At the inaugural

meeting, virtually all the leaders addressed attention to the wide gap that still

existed between promise and reality between the modest progress SAARC

had so far achieved and its achal potential. The seven members states of the

organization had common problems of hunger, poverty, malnutrition,

illiteracy and underdevelopmt:nt, and a common strategy to tackle these

problems within a regional frarnework, which provided the basis for SAARC,

was emphasized by all the leaders in their speeches. All of them also stressed

the need to make SAARC more effective in dealing with such problems. But

in this otherwise agreeable and consensual framework, a disconcerting

note was struck at the Summit on an issue outside the purview of SAARC.

The Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom referred, at some

length, to the recent turbulence ill his countly, which he described as "a

dangerous conspiracy aimed at subverting the sovereignty, territorial

integrity and independence of the Maldives." He, then. went on to express

his "profound appreciation" to the Indian government, for having responded

"positively and swiftly" to his request for military assistance to help

overcome what he called the "mercenary aggression."'"

The King of Nepal, Birzndra Bir Bikram Shah Dev. also mentioned

the Indian role in Maldives, saying that the incident "highlights how

important it is to coordinate our approaches to tackle similar problems from

recurring elsewhere." The Kmg, however, raised the question of devising,

within the framework of the recently enforced Convention on Suppression

of Terrorism, "an acceptable: mechanism capable of dealing with the

destabilisation of a fellow member State by terrorists and hued assassins.""

An added attraction of the Islamabad meetings was the sigmng of

three important agreements on non-attack on each other's nuclear facilities

double taxation avoidance and cultural co-operation, between India and

~ a k i s t a n . ' ~ The leaders of both the countries took the best advantage of that

occasion and informally discussed major bilateral problems.

4.16 Fifth Summit Confererlce

The Fifth Summit Clonference was held at Male on 21-23 November,

1990, This summit held at a time of more widespread internal turmoil and

greater uncertainty about this region's place in the world than these countries

have known in decades. Four of the seven regional nations - India, Pak~stan,

Nepal and Sri Lanka have nevi governments, all forms of controversy and

violence to one degree or another Of the remaining three, Bhutan and

Bangladesh have been consumed by political unrest.

16 Muslim, Islamabad, 30 December 1988 l7 Pakistan Times, Islamabad, 30 December I 988 18 Pakistan Times, Islamabad. 31 December ! I 9 8 8

One measure of the atmosphere leading to this meeting of South

Asian Association for Reg~oilal Co-operation is that it was repeatedly

postponed. For more than a year, Sri Lanka refused to take its turn in holding

the meeting because Indian tro3ps were on its soil. Again the collapse of the

Indian government caused a last mlnute delay of two days.

Indian Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar declared, "the politics of

confrontation will not solve clur problems." In a transparent reference to

certain remarks, which his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, had earlier

made, calling for a "binding SPARC agreement" on nuclear non-proliferation.

Chandra Shekhar said: "Let us forget our past and (our) hfferences and

co-operate for the future, at least for the sake of our chlldren."19

Chandra Shekhar also felt that SAARC should swing away from being

a mere diplomatic forum. The :?rime Minister further suggested that SAARC

should not delay making a beginning on economic co-operation till the

bilateral disputes in the re&.jon could be resolved politically.

The only major political aspect that Chandra Shekhar touched upon

during the course of his spec:ch related to the continuing debate on the

question whether SAARC s h o ~ l d eschew, the discussion of bilateral disputes

that bedevil relations between ::ome of the member countries.

"Economic co-operation among the South Asian countries has its own

logic and compulsions. The framers of the SAARC Charter, therefore,

displayed foresight and wisdorn in not making such co-operation contingent

upon the solution of bilateral p.-oblems."'O

-

l9 Islamabad Declaratmn Fourth SPARC Summ~t, Islamabad, December 1988, pp 1-13 'O The Indzan Express, New D e b , :!2 November 1990

This is how the Indian leader sought to counter the continuing

Pakistani moves to raise bilateral disputes on the collective SAARC forum

itself, instead of confining the discussion on bilateral issues to behind-the-

scene parleys that punctuate the SAARC summitry as an interlude that does

not form part of the summit. Even during the pre-summit deliberation

Pakistan reaffirmed its earlier plea that bilateral disputes too should be taken

up at the collective SAARC folum itself.

4.17 Sixth Summit Confereace

The Sixth Summit Conference at the level of the Heads of States of

Government of the South Asia Associations for Reponal Co-operation was

held at Colombo on 21 December 1991. The sixth summit originally

scheduled to be held on 7 Nov1:mber 1991. But could not held because of the

Bhutan kings inability to attend owing to domestic problems and India

insisted on a full quorum and decided to abstain from the abortive summit.

Although their Heads of State or Government represented the rest of SAARC

member states by all means, i t ended in a fiasco. Sri Lanka, President,

Ranasinghe Premadasa openly alleged the underhand of India in the

Bhutanese King's absence from the summit. He along with the Palastan

Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif vociferously said that in future, no single

member on a small group would be able to veto it by boycotting any meeting.

The Bangladesh Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia although quite

sympathetic to the plight of C:olombo in the light of such a postponement,

decided to maintain hscreet silznce. Thus the postponement of the November

Summit resulted in a lot of bad blood and Islamabad as India's traditional

rival got a God-sent opportunity to throw mud against its neighbour. Even

President Premadasa who, in the midst of mounting opposition at home,

wanted to leg~timise hmself by getting an elevated post llke SAARC

Chairman, received a major set.back to h s planned strategy.

In this speech, the Paki:;tan Premier, Nawaz Sharif, expressed "deep

regret" that the Summit could not be held on schedule. We.need to avoid

such disruptive postponements in future, whch can prove detrimental to the

effectiveness of the Nawaz Sherif repeated his country's

position in South Asia as a nuclear free zone.

4.18 Seventh Summit Conference

The Seventh Meeting o:F the SAARC Heads of State or Government

was held at Dhaka on 10-11 April 1993. The two-day Summit held in the

Bangladesh capital of Dhaka after two successive postponements, served to

demonstrate the resilience of the SAARC process and its inherent ability to

surmount unexpected difficulties. The return of the Summit to Dhaka some

seven years after its formal inception there in 1985 was a significant

occasion for reflection, rededi(:ation and to look forward to the future with

renewed determination.

The signing of the framework agreement on "South Asia Preferential

Trade," Arrangement (SAPTI,) at the Seventh SAARC Summit at Dhaka

marks the first major step towards expanding trade among the member-

nations after eight years of pious exhortations for increased reg~onal

economic co-operation. Initially Pakistan was opposed to signing the SAPTA

2' The Sunday Times, New Delhi, 22 December 19991

framework agreement. But with other member-nations keen on going ahead

with it so that a political direction could be given to the much talked about

trade arrangement, Islamabad found itself isolated.

While the general emph;isis of the leaders was on economic problems,

the leaders did discuss other issues facing the region, especially in the course

of informal or bilateral talks. .4s in previous Summits, media attention was

focussed on the meeting betwe~:n the Prime Minister of India and Palustan.

4.19 Eighth Summit Conference

The Eighth Summit Conference of the SAARC Head of States or

Governments was held at New Delhi on 2-3 May 1995. The Summit began

with discordant notes being struck by Palustan, Nepal and Maldives who

demanded that bilateral issues be discussed at this forum if it was to resolve

"unsettled political issues in the region" and be effective in alleviating

poverty, combating malnutrition and improve the quality of life of the

people. Palustan came close tc calling for a change in the SAARC charter,

which precludes discussion of tilateral issues.

The bilateral wrangles among member states have also adversely

affected the working of SAAIIC. Though the SAARC bars discussion of

contentious bilateral issues and insists on unanimity of decisions, yet

bilateral differences have hamp~red its smooth sailing.22

For instance, 1989 Sri Lanka refused to host the SAARC Summit

on account of the presence of' Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in the

country. Similarly in 1990, president Premadasa of Sri Lanka did not

22 The Times of India, 18 December 1992.

attend the Summit at Male and send his Prime Minister. This has greatly

undermined the importance of the organisation.

The Seventh SAARC Summit who was held at Dhaka in April 1993,

after being postponed twice in December 1992 and January 1993, on account

of disturbed conditions in Bangladesh in the wake of demolition of Babri

Masjid at Ayodhya. This Surnmit adopted a Declaration, which sought to

pull down trade baniers in the region by endorsing the South Asian

Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) for the liberation of trade among the

seven member nations of the P,ssociation.

4.20 SAPTA and SAFTA

The Eighth SAARC Swnmit held up New Delhi in May 1995 accepted

the recommendation of the sub-continental Foreign Minister's meeting of

April 1995, which had proposed the launching of the South Asian

Preferential Trade Agreement. which would take closer to an economic role.

Apart from this, the Summit also decided to establish the South Asian Free

Trade Area (SAFTA) to prornote intra-reg~onal trade. This was a positive

sign towards the economic ;is well as trade related aspiration from the

region. Being a region with very poor economic structure and under

development, the political heads could propose the neo-functionalist

paradigm in the heterogeneou:; structure of South Asia with and eye open up

the avenues of trade and other related economic activities to strengthen the

genuine co-operation and integration among themse~ves .~~ As early as in

1959, a European free Trade a treat). s~gned by the U.K., Sweden, Norway,

-

23 Hindustan Times, January 3, 19S6

122

Denmark, Austria, Portugal, I(:eland and Switzerland created Area (EFTA).

The conceptual basis of EFT.4 was a bloc of countries who trade among

themselves for free customs restriction. A zero-custom arrangement

promotes greater trading, withsut restriction, within the specific area. A free

trade area benefits all the members who constitute such an area. In early

1990's, NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Area was established to

remove trade barriers, between the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico. It has been

realised all over the world thai. free trading at regonal level is in the interest

of economies of the countries concerned. SAPTA is established in the hope

that by the decade of 21" century a South Asian Free Trade Area would

become a reality whereas P.V. Narasirnha Rao, the then Prime Minister of

India (1995) said, they would be zero - custom trading in South Asia.

International trading system is facing new challenges. With the

emergence of new regonal trading blocs across the world, the South Asian

countries are faced with a tight position on the export front. According to

Prof. Vijaya Kathi of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, about 50% of

the world trade was confmed in 1996 to the trading blocks and intra-regional

trade activity. But, "there has been consistent decline in South Asia's share

in the world trade." The three billion dollar trade w i t h SAARC region is

only three per cent of its total imports and four per cent of its total exports,

whlch means that the SAAR.C countries have 97 per cent imports from

outside South Asia, and they exports 96 per cent to outside this regon.

Thls is depressing. In the trading field, South Asia has been described as

lagging behind every other area in the world in constructing explicit,

co-operative arrangements.24

There is a possibility of developed countries imposing new trade

restrictions on South Asia. Besides, the setting up of World Trade Organisation

(WTO), South Asian Countriels are llkely to face difficulty in having access

to the developed world, which had been major trading partners of these

countries.

The SAPTA has been described as "an umbrella framework of rules

providing step by step liberalis;~tion of trade within the region. It provides for

periodic round of trade negotiations for exchange of trade concessions on

tariff and related matters." ISAPTA contains provisions for favourable

treatment to be given to the lea:jt developed countries in the regon.

The Foreign Secretary 11:vel meeting held at New Delhi in 1995 have

completed the formalities of the functioning of SAPTA. A South Asia Free

Trade Area (SAFTA) expecced it after the submission of ratification

documents that discussion would soon begm to replace SAPTA by the

beginning of the 21" century. This will mean that trading among the South

Asian Countries (as in EFT'A and NFTA) will become fiee custom

restrictions and duties. There will be free flow of goods within SAFTA,

if achieved.

Meanwhile, in Decembsr 1995 at New Delhi meeting all SAPTA

countries exchanged lists of commodities for preferential trading. India

offered a list of 106 items, which should enjoy duty concession for

24 S.D. Muni, Expanding SAARC in World Focus, New Delhi, 1996

preferential trading with S A N K . The list of 106 items is more than three

times as large as the list Gram Pakistan, which comprised only 35 items.

Nepal offered 14 items, Mald ves 17 items, Bhutan 7, and Bangladesh 12

items for trade on preferential rates of duty with other SAARC countries.25

Firstly, their vast difference ill the number of items notified by different

member countries to be covercd for preferential trading. Secondly, most of

the items in most of the lists, exchanged for preferential trading, either do

not have a demand in the pote~itial importing countries of the region, or the

items are such that they do not have exportable surplus which could be

traded with SAPTA, after domestic needs are met and after exports to the

developed countries generating hard currencies have been made.

India had become a "Sec:toral dialogue partner" of the Association of

the South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1991. This initiated, as former

Foreign Secretary J.N. Dixit said, "the process of co-operative llnkages with

this important regional groupin;g." This means that India was allowed limited

co-operation in the areas that .4SEAN permitted. However, in 1995 the 51h

ASEAN Summit confirmed with India the status of "full dialogue

partnership." This would enable India to have multi-dimensional and

comprehensive co-operation wi:h ASEAN.

Once SAPTA star$ working effectively, the establishment of SAFTA

is facilitated. India's Commerce Secretary Tejinder Khanna said in the late

1996 that the free trading in EFTA could be a model for proposed SAFTA

25 Lt.Co1.K.S Ramanathan, India ant1 the Future of SAARC In Strutegic Analysis, New Delhi, February 1995.

whose scheduled framework was between 2000-2005. SAARC had in

principle agreed to create a jiee trade area but a number of problems will

have to overcome. These problems include issue of trade imbalance and

lifting or non-tariff barriers (such as transit restrictions). Pakistan's refusal to

grant "Most Favoured Nation" (MFN) status to India and demand by smaller

economies for level playing jield is other issues to be tackled for effective

change from SAPTA to SAF1.A. Meanwhile, the business community led by

trade union bodies and chambers of commerce and Industry of SAARC

countries are keen on an e;uly introduction of free trade in the regon.

Therefore as, Commerce Se1:retary Khanna opined it is "the duty of the

governments in these countries to facilitate the creation of free trade area

in the region."

Government of India's decision to extent several trade concessions to

Nepal in 1996 was likely to tiasten the process of establishment of SAFTA.

These concessions were given with all good intentions and where likely to

boost bilateral trade and joint investment in Nepal, which in turn was likely

to facilitate SAFTA. The decision to convert preferential trading (SAPTA)

into free trading by establishing SAFTA between 2000-2005 AD was given a

concrete shape when Male Summit in 1997 formally decided to establish

SAFTA in the year 2001. This gave just four years to prepare. President

Gayoom denied that it was two ambitious to hope for SAFTA by 2001, by

saying that SAPTA had made considerable progress since its inception in

December 1995. He adrnitte d that nearly four thousand non-tariff items

remained to be accessible, but hoped thzt it would be possible to cover these

items by 2001. So that SAFTP. could become a reality. I.K. Gujral the then

Prime Minister of India, told the Lok Sabha after the Summit, that the

decision on SAFTA was an important step reflecting the growing sentiment

among the member countries lo consolidate economic interaction at a fast

pace. "The economies of neighbourhood can act as the foundation stone of

building up satisfactory international economic relati~ns."~'

Maldive's President Ga!ioom warned that mutual suspicions among

members could jeopardise the future of the SAARC. There was a need to

remove these suspicions. Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia

regretted that member countries were still "deeply divided."

Pakistan President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari said that SAARC had

not been able to take off bzcauc:e of the "suspicions and insecurity generated

by unsettled political issues in c'ur regon." Maumoon Abdul Gayoom voiced

a similar view saying that SAARC had fallen short of the expectations of

many people possibly due to "certain sensitive issues casting black shadow

on our ac t iv i t i e~ ."~~

Nepalese Prime Minister Manmohan Adhikari observed that SAARC

should face challenges and bi: ready to discuss bilateral issues also to

overcome past prejudices." Without making any specific reference to any

bilateral irritants, Pakistan's President said: "The movements for self-

determination, fieedom, democracy and respect for human rights have

spread across the globe and can no longer be denied. With the end of the

26 V .N. Khanna, Foreign Policy ofIndia (New Delhi. Vikas Publishers, 1997) p.216. 27 Ibid. 28 Indian Express, New Delhi, 3 1 De~:ember 1996.

127

cold war, emphasis has shiftc:d from political and ideologcal rivalry to

economic competition. We cannot wish our troubles away by simply turning

a blind eye to our disputes. We must tackle them headlong on the basis of

international law and justice and fairplay."29 Stating that he was aware that

the SAARC charter precluded discussion of contentious political issues, he

wondered whether only bold and decisive initiatives could not help to

acheve progress. The experience of other regional groupings like the

European Community and ASICAN showed that progress was possibly only

after the political issues had been meaningfully addressed.

Referring indirectly to (differences with India on the nuclear issue.

Leghari called upon the South Asian leadership to 'rise above local

considerations and enter into a regime to banish for ever the spectre of

nuclear weapons from the area. "

"The phenomena of narco-terrorism is inseparably linked to organized

crime, money laundering and the illicit arms trade," Begum Khalida Zia said.

Sri Lanka was one of the fust countries to adopt domestic legslation to gve

effect to the SAARC convention on suppression of terrorism.

Begum Khalida Zia said that while SAARC had several achevements,

they would have greater skill had it not been for, some failures. SAARC

had strengthened the concept that we in South Asia are a family. "Sadly,

however, we remain divided." "There are wide divergences between and

within states, ethnic, comm~ia l and social fabric. Dark forces have at

times taken hold of our minds and hearts. They have brought death

29 Pakistan Times, Lahore, 30 December 1996

and destruction. They give fue'led the fire of hatred." She said, stressing that

SAARC was to alleviate ths: sorrows of South Asia and that "we must not

detract from our purpose."

4.21 The SAARC Summits

No. Date I place / country

2. 1 November 17, 1986 I Bangalore I India

I I I

3. 1 November 4, 1987 I Kathmandu I Nepal

Bangladesh

5. 1 November 23, 1990 I Male I Maldives

Dhaka 1.

I I

December 8, 1985

December 31, 1988

I I I

Islamabad

I I I

I May 4, 1997 I Male I Maldives

Pakistan

Sri Lanka

I I I

Colombo 6.

7.

November 21, 1991

Dhaka April 1 1, 1993

India

I I

I due to bilateral wriingles I

Bangladesh

New Delhi 8.

Colombo

January 6,2002

February 6-7, 2005, but postponed

I political problems. I I

May 4, 1995

Sri Lanka

Kathmandu

Islamabad

Dhaka

Nepal

Pakistan

Bangladesh

129

The Summit till 2002 at Kathmandu, i.e.. the 1 lth, could generate

initial optimism by exchangng positive ideas with hlgh rhetoric, but ended

pathetically with discontent and discord between the member countries.

Accusations and counter accusltions followed immediately after the summits

have created a negative impaci. on regonal co-operation in South Asia. This

has raised doubts in the minds of the ruling elites to mingle genuinely for the

real co-operation. The instih~tional arrangements have never been in a

coherent manner to tackle the issues genuinely. The bilateral irritants

surfaced every time during the summits and even the 13" Summit, schedule

to have been held in Bangladesh on February 6-7, 2005 has postponed after

India pull out by citing the security situations in Bangladesh and the

developments in Nepal, where King Gyanendra dismissed the government.

The so-called SAFTA meet ha:; been cancelled due to Pakistan's withdrawal

to attend the same.

Since India and Pakis t~ l are the two largest countries in the regon,

both in terms of size, military resources and potential, the relation between

these two countries and their ole in the regon is very vital and crucial for

achieving regional co-operation. The next chapter reveals the issues of

confrontations between India and Pakistan with the focus on K a s h r ,

nuclear arms race, cross border terrorism, Siachen dispute etc.