The Hindu Business Line : More expected from SAARC

GOING BY THE Dhaka Declaration, issued at the end of the 13th SAARC summit, it would appear that the focus of the meeting was on regional economic cooperation. A good part of the document dealt with this subject. However, the thrust was on poverty alleviation, with the heads of state laying emphasis on the continuation of efforts "to free South Asia from poverty, hunger and other forms of deprivation and social injustice which present a daunting challenge". In fact, the summit took some specific action towards this end: it declared 2006-2015 as the SAARC Decade of Poverty Alleviation and also set up a SAARC Poverty Alleviation Fund.

Onregional economic cooperation, a special mention was made of the energy sector. Strengthening of transport and communication links was also given importance, the heads of Government agreeing "to undertake trade facilitation measures, including transit among SAARC countries, on the basis of understanding among concerned countries, for enhancing intra-regional trade and other economic activities". Dhaka should take note of this resolve in view of its hitherto unhelpful attitude towards allowing New Delhi to establish transit facilities to the North-East. Disappointingly, New Delhi's initiative to open up Indian skies to more frequent air services from its SAARC neighbours was given the stiff-upper-lip treatment. Instead of welcoming the initiative straightaway, the declaration merely agreed to take note of, and study, the proposal, which (if no other extraneous factors were involved) betrays a lack of understanding of the role liberalisation can play in the betterment of SAARC economies.

The importance of operationalising SAFTA by January 1 next year was emphasised, the summit directing that all negotiations "on the outstanding issues ...should be completed by the end of November". This schedule may not be adhered to because New Delhi may be extra careful not to take any hasty step that could harm the interests of domestic manufacturers. One of the problems on which there has been no consensus as yet is the rules of origin issue which, if not tackled properly, could result in third-country products taking advantage of SAFTA to enter unhindered the Indian market. The declaration speaks of an Asian Economic Union, on the road to which SAFTA would be "an important milestone". The idea is attractive but is so far away in terms of practicability that the declaration would have done well not mentioning it all.

Despite all the talk of economic cooperation and poverty alleviation, the one point that resurfaces repeatedly is that SAARC is riddled with differences among member-States which hamper the progress of programmes, of which there is no dearth. Thus it is hardly surprising that Dr Manmohan Singh still has to explain that terrorists cannot be clubbed with freedom-fighters and that member-States continue to shelter such criminals knowing full well they are bent on wreaking death and destruction on other SAARC nations. The debate on the membership of Kabul and observer status for Beijing is also instructive for the light it sheds on the diplomatic games member-States play with one another. Dr Singh has said that effective implementation of SAFTA would lead to a trebling of intra-SAARC trade. This is a worthwhile target. But reaching it calls for far more purposeful action by SAARC.

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