SAARC-Vision For The Second Decade
PREFACE
On 8 December 1995, SAARC has completed its first ten years. To commemorate the completion of its first decade, Member Countries organised a number of activities and programmes both at the national and regional level, the highlight of which was the Commemorative Session of the Council of Ministers in New Delhi on 18 December 1995. At this Special Session, Ministers focused on the theme "SAARC-Vision for the Second Decade".
This publication is a compilation of the messages issued by the Heads of State or Government on the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of SAARC, the Inaugural Address by the Prime Minister of India and Chairman of SAARC at the Commemorative Session, and Statements by the Ministers. Through these messages and statements Member States have reiterated their deep commitment to the process of regional cooperation in South Asia and welfare of the peoples of the region, home to a fifth of humanity. Their statements also reflect views and ideas on a vision for the future of SAARC.
I hope that this publication would provide useful information to all those interested to learn more about the work of our regional organisation.
-Naeem U. Hasan
CONTENTS
I. Messages from Heads of State or Government on the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of SAARC:
1. Her Excellency Begum Khaleda Zia, Prime Minister of Bangladesh
2. His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, King of Bhutan
3. His Excellency Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister of India
4. His Excellency Mr. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of Maldives
5. Right Honourable Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prime Minister of Nepal
6. His Excellency Mr. Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, President of Pakistan
7. Her Excellency Mrs. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, President of Sri Lanka
II. Statements at the Commemorative Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers (New Delhi - December 18, 1995):
. Inaugural Statement by H.E. Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister of India
Statements by the Ministers of Foreign/External Affairs :
· His Excellency Mr. A.S.M. Mostafizur Rahman of Bangladesh
· His Excellency Lyonpo Dawa Tsering of Bhutan
· His Excellency Mr. Pranab Mukherjee of India
· His Excellency Mr. Fathulla Jameel of Maldives
· His Excellency Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani of Nepal
· His Excellency Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali of Pakistan
· His Excellency Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar of Sri Lanka
MESSAGES FROM HEADS OF STATE OR GOVERNMENT ON THE OCCASION OF THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF SAARC
MESSAGE FROM
HER EXCELLENCY BEGUM KHALEDA ZIA
PRIME MINISTER OF BANGLADESH
On this auspicious day in December 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was born with the signing of the Charter by the Heads of State or Government. The leaders of the seven nations of South Asia had gathered in this City of Dhaka to create history for the Region - the creation of an Association that would dispel inter-state rivalry, mutual suspicion and misgiving amongst the nations and promote the welfare of the people of South Asia, to accelerate economic growth, social progress and contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another's problems.
The idea of this regional grouping, conceived by Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman in the early Eighties, took concrete shape on 8th December 1985. That day Shaheed Ziaur Rahman's vision was translated into reality.
As Chairperson of SAARC, I had the unique opportunity of being closely associated with the Association and the privilege of meeting the Heads of State and Government during my visits to the SAARC Member States. I am happy to say that all the leaders had expressed their firm commitment to the principles and objectives of the SAARC Charter and their resolve to accelerate regional cooperation for promoting the welfare of the peoples of South Asia.
The Association had encountered many challenges and problems during it's ten years of existence. It has not only survived but grown stronger. The Association has come of age. It is time for stock-taking of our achievements as well as our failure. It is also a time to look to the future and identify the important areas on which SAARC should concentrate its efforts in its Second Decade.
On the happy and auspicious occasion of the First Decade of SAARC, I reiterate my Government's firm commitment to the noble principles and objectives enshrined in the Charter of the Association and to promoting the welfare of the peoples of South Asia through regional cooperation.
MESSAGE FROM
HIS MAJESTY JIGME SINGYE WANGCHUCK
KING OF BHUTAN
The South Asian countries are bound together by ancient ties of history, geography, trade, culture and traditions. They have also been the victims of colonialism and imperialism. Sharing the same heritage, it was only natural that they should welcome and support the idea of a forum for regional cooperation proposed by the late visionary President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh. The birth of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in December 1985 heralded a new era in the region with the firm commitment of the founding member countries to work together to improve the quality of life of their peoples.
The Association during the past ten years has taken numerous initiatives in the social, cultural, economic, and technical fields. Well over six hundred activities have been carried out under the Integrated Programme of Action, and four regional centres are functioning. The SAARC Food Security Reserve has been established, and the SAARC Convention on Suppression of Terrorism and SAARC Convention on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances have come into force. Several programmes to encourage greater people-to-people contact have been implemented, and travel within the region has been eased for some categories of persons under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme. The people of the region have taken initiatives to set-up important bodies such as the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians, and SAARCLAW which meet regularly. A breakthrough has been achieved recently in the core economic area of trade with the launching of the South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement, which is an important stepping stone to trade expansion in the region.
As we embark on the second decade of SAARC, we must turn our attention to other core economic areas of cooperation, such as money, finance, industry and energy, if we are to progress and prosper individually and collectively. We must realize that we now live in a world where economic regionalism has become the norm. Unless we in South Asia can put our act together and cooperate, we will be marginalised by the world economy.
My people and I are fully committed to the principles and purposes of SAARC. We are determined to work together with our South Asian neighbours to make SAARC a factor for peace and development in our region.
MESSAGE FROM
HIS EXCELLENCY MR. P.V. NARASIMHA RAO
PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA
The commemoration of the Tenth Anniversary of SAARC has provided this opportunity to take stock of our achievements over the past ten years and to set our goals for the next decade.
The Member States of SAARC have every reason to take satisfaction from what has been achieved so far. We have had effective and mutually beneficial interaction in the field of technical cooperation. As the welfare of the people has to be the test of economic growth, our joint endeavours have further evolved to the vital social sectors, where issues of crucial and common concern to our people and region, such as eradication of poverty, have occupied us. In agreeing upon the year 2002 as the target year for poverty eradication, we have set our sights high and signalled our determination to overcome underdevelopment and its attendant ills.
Before the close of the first decade of SAARC, we have embarked on an ambitious journey in the area of economic cooperation and have shown our determination to make rapid progress. The bringing of SAPTA into operation has been a historic step forward and we are committed to the establishment of a South Asian Free Trade Area preferably by the year 2000 but not later than 2005. With enhanced trade and economic exchanges, together with expanding technical cooperation and attention to the social agenda on which we are already embarked, the vision of SAARC will be realised.
Given the imperative of regional collective endeavour, and speed of global transformation, cooperation to mutual benefit is the only way open to us if we have the welfare of our people at heart. The road that lies ahead of us holds great promise. I am confident that all countries of our region are united in this objective and will act decisively together in SAARC towards the bright future which beckons us.
MESSAGE FROM
HIS EXCELLENCY MR. MAUMOON ABDUL GAYOOM
PRESIDENT OF MALDIVES
Ten years ago today, the leaders of the seven South Asian countries launched the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) to address the common challenges of social and economic development facing the region in a spirit of friendship and cooperation, based on mutual trust and understanding. In a region that is characterised by racial, religious, and cultural diversities and disparities in development, often exacerbated by distrust and political conflict, no one doubted that the road ahead would not be an easy one. Nor did the leaders of South Asia doubt the urgent need for regional cooperation, in order to raise the living standards of our peoples, promote social and economic development and strengthen self reliance amongst the countries in the region.
Today, SAARC has indeed become a reality and an integral part of the South Asian development efforts. The establishment of the SAARC Food Security Reserve, the signing of the SAARC Regional Conventions on Suppression of Terrorism, and on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances represent important milestones in regional co-operation. The actions taken towards the alleviation of poverty, the empowering of women and youth, and the importance given to environmental preservation and disaster preparedness further consolidate our joint endeavours. The ratification of the Agreement on SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) by all member countries, and its entry into force as we mark the tenth anniversary of SAARC, is a promising start for a more liberalised trading regime that will indeed ensure tangible economic benefits to the region.
While we commemorate the achievements of the first decade of SAARC, we must be mindful also of the problems that lie ahead. Endemic poverty, resource limitations, and bilateral disputes of varying degrees continue to act as constraints to the deepening of regional cooperation. As the world rapidly transforms in the post cold war period, regional cooperation in various regions of the world is being accelerated. South Asia, too, must fall in step. SAARC must rise above historical conflicts and traditional prejudices and contribute to greater confidence building amongst its members. It is only in an atmosphere of peace, security and faith in good neighbourliness that the nations of South Asia can hope to build on the past achievements of SAARC.
Therefore, on this commemorative day of the coming to a close of the first decade of SAARC, the Maldives would like to call upon the governments and peoples of South Asia to join together in celebrating the dawn of its second decade with a renewed commitment to greater understanding and closer cooperation in our region.
MESSAGE FROM
RIGHT HONOURABLE SHER BAHADUR DEUBA
PRIME MINISTER OF NEPAL
It is indeed a matter of great satisfaction that South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation has made considerable progress over the last Decade and has come of age. It has moved ahead towards achieving its objectives to accelerate the progress of economic and social development in South Asia. It has also considerably helped in finding solution to their common trust and understanding based on mutual respect, equity and shared benefit.
SAARC has moved further in the core areas of poverty eradication, trade and economic cooperation. A significant step in this regard has been operationalisation of the Agreement on the SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA). SAARC should now aim at the early realization of South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) in near future.
Now, as we embark on the second Decade of SAARC which, in my view, should focus its attention to other core economic areas of cooperation such as Trade, Industry, Tourism, and Joint Investment etc. People-to-people contact and socio-cultural heritage in this region has to be strengthened. Time has now come to harness invaluable resources including human resources. Technical cooperation within the region has to be promoted for the common benefit and betterment of the region.
I appreciate the endeavour of the SAARC Secretariat in taking the initiative in issuing this commemorative souvenir, which I am sure, will help promote goodwill and friendship amongst the people of the region.
MESSAGE FROM
HIS EXCELLENCY MR. FAROOQ AHMAD KHAN LEGHARI
PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN
I am happy to learn that SAARC Secretariat is publishing a special Newsletter to commemorate the First Decade of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
We can be rightly proud of the achievements of our Association in the first ten years of its existence. While we take stock of the tangible results of regional cooperation, we must remain cognizant of the less tangible elements, for they too have provided sustenance and energy to the goal of advancing regional cooperation. The most significant such element has been perseverance. Our region has been marked by inequalities, socio-economic disparities, political upheavals and a painfully slow pace of economic development. Despite these retardive forces, our Association has remained on track, and has exhibited great maturity on navigating these debilitating shoals.
An important factor in our Association's progress has been statesmanship. On many an occasion, the wisdom demonstrated by leaders has disentangled complicated situations and issues. I am confident that in the rising decade, this spirit of accommodation and mutuality will continue to characterize the conferences and meetings of SAARC.
There is a new and forceful consideration, entering the portals of SAARC, which carries the promise of even more fruitful cooperation. The increasing involvement of experts and non-governmental sectors of the region in the wider range of SAARC activities is a hopeful development. The deeper the appeal of SAARC, the better its chances of consolidating regional cooperation. While the mainstay of SAARC shall have to continue to be institutional cooperation, the people's voice shall have to be heard, and channelized by their representatives towards durable and realistic purposes.
These intangibles have, and are continuing to influence the structure and make-up of SAARC as a forum for institutionalized cooperation. I am certain that SAARC will move ahead, in the coming times, to higher achievements, a process in which the Secretary General and the Secretariat will be called upon to play an important role.
I would like to wish the Association and the Secretariat, on this occasion, all success for the future.
MESSAGE FROM
HER EXCELLENCY MRS. CHANDRIKA BANDARANAIKE KUMARATUNGA PRESIDENT OF SRI LANKA
It is with much pleasure that I send this message on the occasion of the Commemoration of the First Decade of SAARC.
SAARC is a manifestation of the determination of the people of South Asia to work together towards finding solutions to their common problems in a spirit of friendship and understanding based on mutual respect, equity and shared benefits.
Over the last Decade, SAARC has made considerable progress in realising the main objectives set out in its Charter, which is to accelerate the process of economic and social development in Member Countries and successive Summits advocated the necessity of moving quickly into the core areas of poverty alleviation and trade and economic co-operation to realise these objectives. A significant development in this regard has been the ratification of the Agreement on the SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA). We see this not as a goal in itself but, hopefully, as an intermediate step in the development of a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA). However, Governmental contribution alone is not sufficient to achieve meaningful economic co-operation. Private sector involvement is essential and, for this purpose, Sri Lanka hosted the first - ever South Asian Business Leaders Meeting in August 1995 to give momentum to the efforts of the private sector to harness the economic potential of the region.
Additionally, the twin menaces of Terrorism and Drug Trafficking, which continue to pose serious threats to the security and stability of Member Countries, have also been recognized as areas in which urgent regional action was necessary. The SAARC Regional Conventions on Suppression of Terrorism and on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances were the outgrowth of this common concern.
While we in SAARC can look back with considerable satisfaction on SAARC's achievements in the past Decade, much more needs to be done. To this end I call upon the leaders of all other SAARC countries to join with me in demonstrating sufficient political will and personal commitment to overcome the obstructions that lie in the path of reaching our goal of tangible regional co-operation.
STATEMENTS AT THE COMMEMORATIVE SESSION OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
(New Delhi - December 18, 1995)
INAUGURAL STATEMENT BY
HIS EXCELLENCY MR. P. V. NARASIMHA RAO
PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA
Distinguished Foreign Ministers of SAARC member countries, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to be present here at the commemoration by the Foreign Ministers of SAARC member states on the tenth anniversary of SAARC. This occasion is indeed a landmark for our region. A decade of this organization formed for mutual benefit, welfare and advancement, provides us the opportunity both to look back, and, more importantly, to look forward to the road ahead and the distance we have to cover.
I believe that we can take satisfaction from the stage we have reached in forging cooperation among ourselves. At the beginning of our journey, a question, even if largely unspoken, hung unanswered over what lay ahead. We had joined in a historic initiative but, at that point, as happens in many similar ventures, the way before us was uncharted and then pace at which we could advance was imponderable. I am convinced that ten years down the road, any vestige of doubt has long been erased.
It was appropriate that we first explored the field of technical cooperation. It offered a ready arena for fruitful interaction, our problems and challenges being largely the same and comparable in objectives. Experts instinctively reach out to each other, and within SAARC we made this possible in a variety of fields, progressively increasing the scope of the networking in diverse areas from agriculture, rural development, women in development to environment, transport, science and technology and others. Experts from one country have a natural curiosity to profit from the experiences, thinking, results and goals set by fellow experts from other countries in shared areas of striving. SAARC has done significant work in satisfying this.
We should, of course, continuously consider how the work of the twelve constituted SAARC committees could be rationalised and made even more effective. Deepening and expansion of technical cooperation between us should be an important goal, even as we review progress from time to time to make it substantial and effective. We could advance to developing collaborative projects which address shared needs. This is an area of activity of SAARC which must be continuously strengthened.
Over the years, our preoccupation has evolved beyond technical cooperation directly to the social agenda. This has been an important progression because the centrality of this concern cannot be over-emphasised. Poverty is the core challenge before us all. Technical cooperation and economic growth have all to subserve the upliftment of our people from the very base of the pyramid. All our people have to have to have a share in the dividends of economic and social progress. Sections of our people at the lowest end of the pyramid of material benefit cannot be mere spectators to the enjoyment of the fruits of progress only by those who are already advantaged or better placed. Any model of development based on uneven rewards will not be supported by those who are not beneficiaries of planning and growth strategy, and will put into question the value of the whole enterprise of a dynamic growth policy in which all of us are engaged. The credibility of any growth strategy can be ensured only by the participation in it of society as a whole. Ascending graphs and statistics have a value only in as much as they mirror the reality of widespread human enrichment in quality of life terms. The gains derived from any approach which does not directly respond to this core social challenge can only be partial.
Member States of SAARC have embraced the logic of deregulation and liberalisation of their economies and have gone a long way down this path. We believe that the benefits which accrue from this should touch our population at all points. The energies and potentialities released must create openings for a cross-section of our people and lift their living standards through creation of productive employment opportunities. Already foreign direct investments are releasing resources which are flowing to the countryside. This is the most visible linkage between attracting capital investments required for growth from abroad and thereby better financing priority rural sector schemes. However, all benefits take time to come into reality as the momentum of growth gathers pace and the ambit of the productive economy expands. What is important is national commitment to the good of all and not of only a few.
The urgent task of grassroot social transformation also has to be tackled head on as a determined and decisive parallel policy. It was in recognition of this priority mandate, which all leaders of the region have, that the current year was designated the SAARC Year of Poverty Eradication. We have agreed to the target of poverty eradication by the year 2002. By this we mean to indicate the urgency we attach to this primary goal : we do not regard poverty eradication is convulsed in change around us and is dramatically transforming developing societies, the communications saturation, the aspirations of our people, all feed this urgency. We do not wish South Asia to be a backwater for basic requirements of health, education and nutrition. We wish for all of us the dignity of decent standards of living. We should strive to attain this in the shortest possible time both nationally and collectively. We should consult on and profit from each other's experience and policies which have proved rewarding for us. We have already concluded Conventions and Resolutions on Women & Development, Youth and the Disabled and should make full use of these instruments of cooperation and deepen the social agenda of SAARC for collective benefit.
It is most heartening, for governments as for our business communities, that before closing the first decade of SAARC we have ventured substantively into the area of economic cooperation. For many eminently successful regional coalitions the world over, this is the core area of collaboration. Globalisation of economic transactions has accelerated the parallel phenomenon of regional coalescence. Our region should not remain immune to the contemporary logic of realising and optimising the potential synergy which we can generate together and which is lying dormant today. The regional marketplace affords opportunities far beyond domestic confines. As for our international trade, what can be supplied cheaper and to equivalent standards within our reigon will result in both lower costs and activation of hitherto unrealised trading potential to mutual advantage. There is no reason why intra-SAARC trade, which is only a fraction of our global trade, cannot be quickly enhanced many times over. This has been the proven experience of other regional economic organisations.
In promoting this spirit of enlightened collective regional self-interest, we should channel commercial exchanges so that our vital interests are promoted. Every party has a legitimate interest in preventing any negative consequencies to its domestic economy from the opening up of the region. We wish to move with the support and committed participation of our business communities. But within the identified possibilities, which are enormous, we should be moving at a much faster pace. It is a matter of great satisfaction that the aim we set for ourselves at the New Delhi Summit this year to make the SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement operational by the tenth anniversary of SAARC has ben realised. Even though a symbolic first step, the coming into operation of SAPTA is a development of historic importance for South Asia as it demonstrates our practical wilingness to forge common cause among ourselves as a region, in the recognition that our destinies are bound together. We have agreed not to linger at the first step. Even before the first round of tariff concessions is given effect to, our officials have reached agreement on launching the second and more ambitious round in Sri Lanka early next year. This is the sense of urgency with which we need to move, and our vision should be equal to the opportunities now available. The vision is to work with sustained commitment towards free flow of trade in the region, and for policies which encourage cross investments within our economies; it is to create a supportive and enabling environment for beneficial economic and commercial ideas to flourish by drawing strength from one another.
We look ahead from the first decade of SAARC with a sense of hope, renewal, growth and consolidation - as part of our desire to shape our destinies ourselves, and in cooperation with one another. I wish the Foreign Ministers assembled here all strength in this noble endeavour, which we owe to our people and to ourselves.
Thank you.
STATEMENT BY
HIS EXCELLENCY MR. A.S.M. MOSTAFIZUR RAHMAN
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF BANGLADESH
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim Hon'ble Prime Minister, Mr. Chairman, Hon'ble Foreign Ministers, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalamu Alaikum.
It is indeed a great pleasure for me to be here in New Delhi once again to participate in the Sixteenth Session of the Council of Ministers. I am deeply thankful to the Government of India for their gracious hospitality extended to me and members of the Bangladesh Delegation and for making excellent arrangements as always for this meeting. I have made many visits to the historic City of Delhi. I have always found the arrangements impeccable and the atmosphere both friendly and congenial. I am confident that under your able stewardship the meeting will come to a successful conclusion.
Mr. Chairman,
I deem it a privilege and honour to have the opportunity to say a few words on the occasion of this historic Commemorative Session. This gathering will provide us the unique opportunity to look back candidly both at the achievements and failures of SAARC. I believe that this collective introspection is necessary if we are to accelerate the process of regional cooperation and demonstrate that South Asia is fully capable of matching the performances of our neighbours in ASEAN and indeed in the entire Asia Pacific Rim.
Mr. Chairman,
For Bangladesh the tenth anniversary of the Association on 8th December this year has special significance. On that memorable day in 1985 the leaders of the seven nations of South Asia gathered in Dhaka to attend the First SAARC Summit and put their signatures to the Charter of the Association thus translating the late President Ziaur Rahman's vision of a regional forum into reality. Today it may seem quite logical and sensible to us that the nations of the region opted to create a regional grouping but in the early Eighties such a concept was viewed with suspicion and misgiving . The South Asia region has been historically conflict-prone although it is bound by a common history culture, and tradition. Persistent tensions in inter-state relations in the post-colonial history of the region continued to impede the process of cooperation.
The late President Ziaur Rahman's efforts facilitated the realization by all that the benefits of cooperation would by far outweigh the cost of non-cooperation which had been high and would in all likelihood be much higher in the future. Therefore in a region bedeviled with inter-state tensions and suspicion the gathering of leaders of the seven nations of the South Asian region and the creation of a regional grouping was undoubtedly a major achievement. It was for the first time in the troubled and conflict-ridden history of South Asia that an institutional mechanism for regional cooperation was agreed upon and subsequently received the necessary support from Member States to enable it to survive and grow.
Mr. Chairman,
Our achievements in many fields have been considerable, and commendable in the relatively short span of ten years. These could have been much greater had it not been for certain negative forces and the wide divergence of views between states on some issues. This is to be viewed in the context of the fact that South Asian society is complex and pluralistic. Moreover the size of our populations, the extent of poverty, malnutrition and illiteracy makes our task all the more complex.
The divisions in this society are not location-specific. On the other hand, even localised conflicts in South Asia have disproportionate spill-over effects across state boundaries. In addition, historical, ethnic, linguistic and cultural factors have created for the peoples of South Asia numerous structural problems and conflicts. South Asia therefore, regrettably, continues to remain at the crossroads of conflict and cooperation while other regional cooperative groups in Asia and elsewhere are forging ahead with impressive and meaningful progress in their own regional interaction. Today, as South Asia faces a host of problems arising out of indigenous and extraneous factors, dialogue and cooperation among the leaders and policy-makers is all the more important and, indeed, imperative.
Mr. Chairman,
The SAARC Charter precludes our deliberation on bilateral issues between Member States. We have faithfully adhered to this principle during the last 10 years. However, none of us can deny that SAARC has at the same time contributed significantly to lessening tensions and even resolving, to some extent, some contentious issues between its various members simply by providing a venue at regular intervals for the leaders to meet each other, within and outside the conference rooms.
It is, perhaps, time now for us to translate this hitherto passive process into a more active and dynamic one without in any way violating the spirit of our Charter. I think in Ten years we have developed amongst ourselves sufficiently a "SAARC Spirit". What I wish to suggest is that outside the formal confines of our deliberations, we should henceforth be in a position to form "SAARC Conciliation Groups" to try and bring about reconciliation between Member States with disputes. Thus if two countries have a dispute over a matter those members not involved in the dispute could set up a Conciliation Committee at Ministerial (or even Summit level) to try and act as honest brokers in at least easing tensions if not resolving disputes.
Mr. Chairman,
As we enter the eleventh year of SAARC's existence, let us pause and ponder: where do we go from here? I wish to take this opportunity to share some of my thoughts with you. It is true that SAARC has made commendable achievements in many fields in the last ten years . However, we must also squarely face the fact that even today fresh doubts are being expressed about the viability of our Association, particularly in the context of some of the stresses and strains which have increased sharply within our region recently.
In the present situation, therefore, active and tangible confidence-building measures must be accelerated. Regional cooperation in South Asia is possibly the single most important of all such measures. While it may not be possible to eliminate inter-state rivalry in the short-run, we cannot, any of us, allow this to explode into conflicts which will debilitate the entire region. We must, therefore, strive all the more for promoting regional cooperation and people-to-people contacts which would weave together the safety net for minimizing the risks of conflicts, reducing them, managing them and eventually resolving them. The peoples of South Asia must not, ever, forget that their bonds are permanent and their future inextricably intervened. There is infact, no alternative to regional cooperation which is indispensable for accelerating economic growth and overall development in our region. The cost of non-cooperation is much too high to be ignored. The united strength of countries in a geographical region and the consequent increase in their collective bargaining power vis-a-vis other competing groupings in the international community, greatly enhances the prospect of economic and trade benefits which are otherwise not possible. The emergence of several trading blocs and economic groupings all over the world is a clear testimony to the truth that economic survival let alone the prosperity of a nation in the increasingly competitive trading system, is crucially dependent on its ability to integrate with other economies. Those nations that fail to perceive these realities will have no option but to become marginalised in the global economic community.
Mr. Chairman,
Clearly, the core issues of trade and economic cooperation must be given utmost priority by the Member States of the Association during its Second Decade. According to some studies, low customs tariff and minimum restriction on movements of goods and services between countries in the region can increase intra-regional trade five-fold from the present $3 billion to over $ 15 billion by the turn of the century. To achieve this goal the Governments and the private sectors in our region must commit themselves to work in tandem with each other. We must correct the existing mismatch between production and trade specialization. We must go beyond trade in commodities to expand trade in manufactures. We should all endeavour to legitimise and facilitate cross border trade between ourselves to fully utilise its growing potential. Let us encourage more intra-regional investment flow and promote joint ventures where mutuality of benefit is transparent. Our ultimate goal should be not only to increase intra-regional trade but to substantially increase our region's global trade as well.
Mr. Chairman,
The ratification of the SAPTA Agreement is undoubtedly a notable land mark for SAARC, which now stands poised to take an ambitious leap forward. Let us now boldly venture forward together, to converting SAPTA to SAFTA - the South Asian Free Trade Area. Let us work together, resolutely, to progressively dismantling and doing away with all remaining tariff, para-tariff and non-tariff barriers which still shackle us and restrain us from moving ahead with the rest of the world around us.
Mr. Chairman,
There is broad consensus that the SAARC process should not be confined to inter-governmental cooperation only, but should increasingly embrace people-to-people contacts and interaction at all levels across the entire spectrum of South Asian society. I feel that our achievements in the latter category have been less than remarkable. All of us need to shake off the inhibitions, bred by an overwhelming security syndrome, which have for so long held us as prisoners. Let us open up the windows of our minds and our hearts, and let us encourage our peoples to reach out to each other, to re-discover each other. Towards this end, I wish to flag for your consideration the following specific proposals:
a) Let us abolish visas between us on a progressive scale. We have made a very small beginning. We need to be much bolder. Let us expand the present list to include increasingly broader spectra of officials, businessmen, educationists, intellectuals, journalists, artists and students.
b) Let us increase substantially intra-regional student mobility. Apart from offering placements in our respective institutions for SAARC students, as we do now, we should additionally promote study tours by students at school, college and university level to each others' countries on a regular basis. The Secretariat may examine and suggest ways on how this can be initiated and institutionalised. We have set up SAARC for our younger generation.
c) Our parliamentarians already meet at regular intervals, within the aegis of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians. This Association could perhaps develop, with the support of Governments of Member States, into a non-legislative South Asian Parliament . Let the direction of SAARC be jointly deliberated upon first, and subsequently determined by the peoples representatives elected to this Parliament.
d) Let us re-invigorate the existing, but moribund, land and rail routes between us with the aim of promoting greater intra-regional tourism. Regional associations are meaningless without dynamic inter-active people-to-people contacts. Such contact can increase dramatically if we can open up the means to them for availing of a cheap transportation to each other's countries.
e) Environmental degradation is assuming alarming proportions in South Asia. As we all know, the environment and ecology transcend national borders and are our common resources. In recognition of this, two Regional Studies were undertaken at the behest of the SAARC which have made useful and valid recommendations which we should endeavour to implement at the earliest.
f) Water is one of our most vital and shared resources. While various regions in the world have forged beneficial cooperation in this sector, we are still unable to progress in this front in our region. Let us make sincere efforts to harness to the full potential our water resources for the benefit of our peoples, thereby changing one of the poorest regions of the worId to a prosperous one.
g) The operationalization of SAPTA Agreement has to ensure that the Least Developed Contracting States obtain the benefits they expect from this agreement. Article-10 of the Agreement provides for special and more favourable treatment exclusively to the Least Developed Contracting States which includes, inter-alia, duty free access, removal of non-tariff and para-tariff barriers. Granting of such measures would not only expand their trade but facilitate progression to a South Asian Free Trade Area.
h) The Secretariat should be strengthened and the status of the Secretary General should be up-graded in order to give him the necessary access and maneuverability to more effectively discharge his function.
Mr. Chairman,
While we evolve strategies and determine the priorities for the future course of action we should at the same time, examine our record during the First Decades so that successes can be replicated and failures avoided during the Second Decade. Member States must develop a better mechanism to implement the decisions and recommendations of SAARC Summits, Ministerial meetings and Integrated Progrmme of Action (lPA). Better monitoring and evaluation techniques are required to identify the performances for various programmes, activities and bodies of the Association. This leads me to another issue, that of rationalising SAARC activities especially the Calendar of Activities under Integrated Programme of Action (lPA). I feel there must be more selectivity and greater emphasis on result-oriented activities. The number of activities could be reduced without seriously affecting output. I fully endorse the recommendation of the First Special Session of the Standing Committee which was reiterated by the Second Special Session of the Committee that there should not be more than two activities per Technical Committee per annum.
Mr. Chairman,
Cooperation with regional and international organizations and United Nations Agencies is now firmly on the SAARC Agenda. Greater interaction with these organizations would benefit our Association in many ways. The interaction must grow further and be strengthened during the Second Decade. Similarly, the practice of formulating collective position on issues of common interest in all international fora and consultations among delegations of SAARC countries in these fora are important developments. We must come closer together through this process.
Mr. Chairman,
I would like to take this opportunity to convey my sincere thanks to the Secretary-General H.E. Mr. Y.K. Silwal, for his untiring efforts and unstinted support to the SAARC process, which has made the Association stronger. I also congratulate H.E. Mr. Naeemuddin Hasan on his nomination to the post of Secretary-General, which I am confident would receive the unanimous support of all Members of the Council.
Mr. Chairman,
Before concluding, allow me to reaffirm that Bangladesh remains firmly committed to the objectives and principles of the SAARC Charter and to pursuing regional cooperation in identified fields, particularly the eradication of poverty and expansion of intra-regional trade. As we step into the Second Decade of SAARC, we are committed to boldly facing the challenges awaiting us, to grasping the opportunities that are presented to us and to building a better future for the peoples of South Asia by intensifying regional cooperation with visionary zeal.
I thank you.
STATEMENT BY
HIS EXCELLENCY LYONPO DAWA TSERING
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF BHUTAN
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ten days ago, in Thimphu, we celebrated the completion of a decade of SAARC. I vividly recall that historic day, on 8 December 1985 in Dhaka, when the leaders of our countries signed the Charter establishing our Association. There was a distinct air of history about those heady days, and a feeling of hope tempered with caution that together we could cross the many hurdles that had for so long impeded the progress of our region. Since then, we have crossed some of the hurdles but many more still remain, and it is only fitting that as we cross the tenyear milestone in the history of our fledgeling Association, we should take stock of our past achievements and failures and chart new strategies and priorities for the future.
Mr. Chairman,
May I, at the very outset, express our complete faith in your stewardship of our Council? With your great wisdom and experience, we are confident that you will give our Association a fresh impetus and a new sense of purpose and direction in the days ahead. I would also like to express our appreciation to the Prime Minister of India, His Excellency Shri Narasimha Rao, for his eloquent inaugural address which reflects his deep and abiding faith in the cause of regional cooperation.
Mr. Chairman,
It gives me great pleasure to welcome Foreign Minister Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani of Nepal to our fold. I look forward to working closely with him in pursuing our common objectives. Our outgoing Secretary General Mr. Y.K. Silwal deserves our highest commendation for the exemplary manner in which he has carried out his manifold responsibilities. The Association has benefitted greatly from his considerable knowledge and experience of regional and international affairs. We wish him every success in his future endeavours.
I would like to thank the Government of India for the warm and generous hospitality extended to me and my delegation, and for the meticulous arrangements made for this meeting. All those in the Government of India and the SAARC Secretariat who have prepared the documentation for our meeting deserve our special thanks. And last but not least, our thanks go to the able officials and Foreign Secretaries of our governments who have laboured so hard to produce the documents which have lightened our task.
Mr. Chairman,
As I look back at the past ten years, I am struck by the numerous initiatives we have taken in the social, economic, cultural, financial and technical fields. The scope of regional cooperation has been expanded to cover important areas such as environment, poverty alleviation, and trade liberalization. Over six hundred activities have taken place under the Integrated Programme of Action. The SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism and the SAARC Convention on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances have come into force. The SAARC Food Security Reserve has been established, as also four regional centres. The scope of the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme has been expanded. A number of studies on economic, environmental and other issues have been carried out and have resulted in followup action. And significantly, NGOs and Regional Apex Bodies such as the SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians and SAARCLAW have successfully taken the initiative to obtain our recognition, while several other influential NGOs and Regional Apex Groups have sought recognition.
Countless meetings at the officials and ministerial levels have helped to create understanding and build confidence, while the Summits have provided valuable opportunities for bilateral meetings at the highest political level. Our Association has also shown considerable resilience by weathering several grave crises. All in all, the performance of SAARC during the first decade of its existence has been quite impressive, and given the bitter legacy of the past it would have been unreasonable to expect more. The foundation for accelerating the pace of cooperation is in place. Vision and political will, will now determine the scope and speed of future progress.
Mr. Chairman,
The reasons for the shortcomings of our Association are not hard to find. Our region lacks political and social cohesion and is beset with bilateral problems. The popular domestic politics of neighbour-bashing is not conducive to regional cooperation. The dismal political climate of the region continues to cast a long shadow over all our activities. Many of our countries are faced with a grim environmental situation due to the rapid erosion of our natural resource base and a high rate of population growth. We have not given adequate attention to socioeconomic concerns because of the primacy of the political factor which dominates policymaking.
The greatest challenge before SAARC today is how to generate the necessary political will to move SAARC from the non-controversial areas which while useful confer little tangible benefits to the core areas of cooperation, such as, money, finance, energy, industry, and trade. In this context, the people of our region must make a determined break with the most damaging legacy of the colonial era, namely, the process of fragmentation and disintegration of the South Asian Community which was, until the onset of colonialism, in the process of evolving a unique identity transcending race, religion, language and culture.
Mr. Chairman,
A South Asian Community of history, civilization and tradition, of shared fundamental values, and an indivisible ecosystem have linked our countries together for centuries. The task before us is to reactivate that Community and enlarge its scope to fit the ethos and needs of modern times. The highest priority should go to the formulation of a collective strategy for the development of our countries as constituent parts of an integrated region. We can forge ahead rapidly only if we open up to each other, and define terms of cooperation which can benefit us individually and collectively.
Some of the critical problems which need to be addressed urgently are chronic and dehumanising poverty of a large proportion of our population, slow economic growth and uneven economic development between different regions and different strata of our societies, high rates of population growth, extensive erosion of our natural resource base due to environmental degradation, social polarisation and conflicts, and high defence expenditures.
What is required is a sustainable development strategy to overcome the multifaceted crises facing South Asia today, a strategy which combines human development, growth, equity and technological change with a wiser and more creative use of local resources and knowledge. The development strategies followed hitherto based on western models of economic development do not offer a viable path to the accumulation process in our context. Elements of this strategy would have to face the biggest challenge facing South Asia today, namely, the high level of population growth, for the problem of poverty is inextricably linked with that of population growth. We must move ahead from SAPTA to SAFTA or a South Asian Free Trade Area, for increase in intraregional trade will expand production and employment in all our countries, bring down costs of living and help reap the benefits of a larger market. The private sector will have to play a crucial role in the industrialization drive and expansion of trade. If all the member countries of our Association are not ready to participate in a sustainable development strategy for the region, the mechanism of subregional cooperation through Action Committees as laid down in the Charter should be activated.
Mr. Chairman,
As we stand on the threshold of our second decade, we have to realize that there is no viable alternative to regional cooperation. We are living in a rapidly changing world where fierce competition and economic regionalism are the norm. Economic considerations now transcend political factors in the calculations of most nations. Unless we join hands and promote collective selfreliance in our region, we will be increasingly relegated to the margins of the world economy and international politics.
STATEMENT BY
HIS EXCELLENCY MR. PRANAB MUKHERJEE
MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS OF INDIA
It has been ten years since we adopted the SAARC Charter, and called our Association into being, long enough for us to judge if it has become what we had hoped it would, if it has given us what we expected of it, and, perhaps the hardest question to ask and answer, if we as Governments have put into SAARC the investment of time, care, effort and vision which so important an experiment demanded. We did not form SAARC simply to make a South Asian contribution to the acronyms of the world, or because others had associations, and we had none. No, we came together in SAARC because we decided that collective effort was essential to improve the lot of our people; for SAARC, as for the other regional associations that have been successful, this is the yardstick by which it must be measured, this is the reason for its existence. SAARC is about people and the overwhelming need and desire of our countries to promote the welfare and quality of their life. That is the ideal we have to constantly hold before us and assiduously pursue and attain.
In these ten years, SAARC has become the established institution of regional cooperation, and its achievements have been considerable. Its purpose and agenda have grown and widened the scope of regional cooperation to include diverse sectors. We have set up twelve committees on technical cooperation and four regional centres in various SAARC capitals. The widening of the agenda has included primary social issues of women and family health, youth, the disabled and poverty eradication. In the past ten years, we have steadily built a solid foundation and continue to consolidate our gains. The combined efforts of Member States during the past decade of its existence has brought SAARC to the threshold of new vistas. If we compare the first ten years of SAARC with those of other regional organizations, we would have reason to hope that, like them, SAARC is now ready to take off.
The operationalisation of SAPTA earlier this month heralds a historic step forward for SAARC and has shown the way towards the creation of a South Asian Free Trade Area. The strategies for economic development pursued by Member States can be meshed with intraregional economic cooperation, including trade, investments and establishment of joint ventures. Through telling regional economic cooperation and by harnessing the collective strengths of the region, SAARC can productively respond to the evolving global economic paradigm.
While we have given ourselves the goal to work towards a free trade area in South Asia and we have also rightly agreed that this should be done in stages we have to ensure that these stages do not stretch out the process too long. I would propose that we should work with the commitment required so as to definitely realise the South Asian Free Trade Area by the end of the second decade of SAARC. We believe that we should strive to try and achieve it even by the year 2000, the beginning of the next millennium. Our endeavour should be to have achieved zero tariffs by then in the majority of product groups and minimal tariffs in others. It should also be our endeavour to remove most Quantitative Restrictions by then. We should charge the Committee on Economic Cooperation to regard this as a mandate by establishing a high level task force for the purpose. Trade facilitation and logistics, including the visa regime and customs and importexport licensing procedures, should be kept in step with this committed liberalisation process. The Inter-Governmental Group (IGG) is already mandated to examine tariff removal and reduction product by product, by sectoral product groups or across the board, as feasible, when they meet early next year.
SAFTA will produce a common market of over a billion people. That in itself will be a phenomenon that will make the rest of the world sit up and take notice. The political impact this will have, on how we see ourselves and how the world sees us, will be difficult to overstate.
Our export industries might still be competitive rather than complementary, the range of products we can presently sell each other might be narrow, but for many industries in all our countries, the opportunities would be vast. In this, India will not be the main beneficiary; the largest market that will be opened will be our's, for our partners in SAARC to exploit. In SAARC, we will then progress automatically to a higher level of interaction with the regional groupings and trade blocs to whom the bulk of our exports will still go. We can hope for a collective strength in bargaining with others who have for some decades recognised that their future lay in collective endeavour.
Excellencies,
East Asia, now extremely prosperous, has given the world the technique of selfdefence known as the power of the empty hand. In South Asia our hands are also empty, though, sadly, in a different sense, but it is entirely possible for us also to turn our weaknesses into our strengths. Poverty, illiteracy, poor health and nutrition are what hold our populations back from reaching their potential. If we can collectively tackle these problems in SAARC, South Asia will have a vibrant population of 1.2 billion, onesixth of the world, as talented, productive and hard working as any other set of people, and therefore, likely to be just as successful. To expand to South Asia an image which has recently been used about India by an eminent German banker, the South Asian elephant, once it gets going, will be far more formidable than any Asian tiger.
That, Excellencies, must be the vision that drives us. Our region, richly endowed in natural and human resources, has so far not been able to fully use these to our common advantage. When the whole world is moving ahead in cooperative endeavour it is imperative that the SAARC region also does so on the basis of optimising the vast potential that exists, through regional and subregional cooperation as envisaged in the Charter. This historic meeting, which marks the completion of ten years of SAARC's existence should charge our experts with the responsibility of identifying specific areas for moving forward, with the objective of improving the quality of the lives of our peoples and accelerating socioeconomic development.
For SAARC to achieve its full potential, we need collectively to eradicate the curse of poverty and all the deprivations that go along with it that have dragged the region down. India supports the various measures outlined in several expert reports on poverty alleviation. We once again renew our determination to pursue the SAARC objective of eradicating poverty in the shortest possible time. For our part, the Government of India has adopted a programme of economic reform that stimulates growth but recognises the human being and the poorest among them as the centre of our concerns. Economic growth measured in terms of cold numbers is not enough, not that these are unimpressive. As our Prime Minister emphasised at the last SAARC Summit and in his recent address, our development strategies and efforts are predicated on keeping the human being firmly as the subject of our polices. We believe that this is a shared aim for all countries in our region.
In the Charter of SAARC we took an eminently wise decision to ensure progress in areas of cooperation by differentiating them from bilateral and contentious issues which could weigh down progress in the crucial areas of economic, social and technical cooperation. We feel that the advance we have made and the vistas which are opening before us in all these areas, for the benefit of our people, underscore the correctness of this approach. Joint efforts to make these areas one of collaborative endeavour can be pursued with vigour on all sides.
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the founding of SAARC, we have drawn up a ten point programme. This includes, among other items, a tree planting ceremony by Foreign Ministers, organizing of a SAARC Trade Fair, a SAARC handicrafts exhibition, awareness of SAARC through TV and Radio and release of a postage stamp to commemorate the anniversary.
As we enter the second decade of SAARC's existence, we need to respond to new challenges and opportunities by enriching and casting wider our agenda of interaction and by evolving concerted strategies in relation to global economic developments of common interest or concern to us all.
Excellencies,
The time has come when we can no longer put off taking a collective decision on how SAARC should evolve. The people of South Asia whom we have the privilege to represent, expect leadership from us. We will be failing them if we do not take SAARC into its second decade with the determination to use it to make South Asia an area of the world that will become one of the poles of economic power in the next century. We can do this, but in order to do this, we must get over the reservations of the past, over-narrow prejudices or unreasonable fears. For each one of us seven, your poverty is my poverty, my future prosperity will also be yours.
Rabindranath Tagore had a song whose lines are particularly apt for us:
"O you who are starved, you have made me famished,
Does this satisfy you ? ...
O you who are a beggar, you have beggared me...
If you want more from me, give a little to me,
I will give more back to you."
Excellencies,
We owe it to ourselves and to the people of South Asia to lead them into a prosperous new millennium. I welcome you to join us in an exorcism of poverty from South Asia, and in an invocation of our collective strength and prosperity.
STATEMENT BY
HIS EXCELLENCY FATHULLA JAMEEL
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF MALDIVES
Honourable Prime Minister, Honourable Ministers, Mr. Secretary General, Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen
At the outset, I would like to join my colleagues in expressing my sincere gratitude to the Government of India for the warm hospitality that has been extended to me and my delegation since our arrival in this beautiful city of New Delhi.
I welcome to our midst the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal, His Excellency Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani; while recalling with appreciation the important contributions made to this Council by his predecessor.
I also wish to extend a very special tribute to our Secretary General, His Excellency Mr. Y. K. Silwal, who will complete his tenure of office at the end of this year. His dedicated efforts during the last two years in promoting the cause of SAARC and strengthening the functioning of the Secretariat deserve commendation and appreciation.
Mr. Prime Minister,
We are greatly honoured by your presence at this Commemorative Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers. Your association with SAARC goes back to the very early days of its formation as an institutionalised regional framework, and we do acknowledge the valuable contribution made by you personally, at different times and in different capacities, during the last ten years. It is gratifying to see you continuing your support to our organisation and, from the seat of the Head of your Government, and with the confidence of a leader who had learned from experience, hear you reiterate your commitment to the principles upon which SAARC was founded. Thank you Mr. Prime Minister for all you have said in your inspiring speech.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues,
At this session of the Council of Ministers we are commemorating the tenth anniversary of the establishment of this regional forum; the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
It is indeed a happy occasion worthy of celebration; not only because we have been able to fulfil a dream, but also because we have made considerable progress in bringing our peoples together into a framework of cooperation through a series of well conceived programs, and by generating a new spirit of mutual trust and confidence.
Today we are convinced, more than ever before, that this Association and what we are striving for are feasible, and that they are beneficial. Ours may not be yet the regional organisation with the most comprehensive collection of programmes; but we certainly have the potential for a model for the world to see a model of seven countries so dissimilar in size, population and resources, working jointly to improve the socio economic conditions of their peoples; by alleviating poverty, eliminating trade barriers, aligning and harmonising their technical pursuits, and engaging at all times the traditions of a bountiful and a civilised South Asia, ultimately reconciling their differences and making their own contribution towards world peace and justice.
Obviously, we have passed across some very rough turf during the last ten years, as we continued building and consolidating our cooperative regime. But the achievements we reached so far are testimony to the continuing commitment and determination of our political leaders to the objectives embodied in our Charter aimed at the social and economic development of our peoples, based firmly on mutual respect and a spirit of co operation, understanding and friendship. SAARC will remain as a true manifestation of our collective will to build a more prosperous and self reliant South Asia.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues,
A decade of cooperation amongst South Asian countries has indeed brought forth a number of tangible benefits. Ten years ago, when we launched the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, there were many who were sceptical about our prospects. They saw only the differences in our region; they focused only on unresolved conflicts between some of our members; and they questioned not only our commitment but also our ability to sustain a programme of regional cooperation.
Yet, today, no one doubts the actuality of SAARC. We have risen beyond our differences; we have demonstrated that regional cooperation in South Asia is a meaningful exercise, despite many unresolved conflicts. Indeed, SAARC is today a reality that has come to be accepted as the voice of South Asia at many international fora.
Through the Integrated Programme of Action, numerous SAARC activities are held each year under the umbrella of the various Technical Committees set up in the agreed areas of cooperation. These activities help promote friendship and understanding amongst our officials in various fields. A number of Ministerial meetings and Conferences focusing on such socioeconomic themes of critical relevance to the region as environment, women and family health, children, youth, and the disabled have helped raise the awareness of the people to the regional dimensions of these problems and provided a common ground for exchanges of information and experiences.
We can also take pride from the two regional Conventions, one on the Suppression of Terrorism and the other on the Prevention of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances that have been signed by Member States. We have also established a Food Security Reserve that may be used to meet emergencies in a member country. The Agreement on South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement SAPTA is now in force, promising a more liberalized trading regime in our region in the future.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues,
These are only some of the many notable and perhaps tangible achievements of SAARC in its first decade. However, of no less importance is the sense of shared identity and regional consciousness that it has helped evolve in our region through increased interaction amongst our peoples at all levels. The numerous Summits and Ministerial level meetings held under the aegis of SAARC have provided invaluable opportunities to exchange views even on some of the bilateral issues, and dissolve differences through quiet diplomacy. This is not to say that SAARC has not provided answers or solutions to the many disputes that ravage South Asia. Indeed it has certainly acted as a catalyst in diffusing tension on a number of occasions amongst members in the region. This, in South Asia, is no mean feat.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues,
In its early years, SAARC has tended to concentrate on areas of cooperation that have been of a technical and functional nature. It is only recently that our focus has moved towards the more substantial areas of economic cooperation.
This is understandably so, given the inherent sociopolitical and economic difficulties prevalent in the region. There are those who may not feel happy with this slow pace of evolution of SAARC, but I believe that rather than be discouraged, we should take encouragement from the fact that our movement has been consistently positive, even if slow. It has given us time to reflect and assess each others concerns, identify common problems and chart out regional action plans in a number of areas. We are thus better suited today to move from the periphery to the core areas of cooperation with greater confidence.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues,
South Asia is not only the most populous region, numbering over a billion people, but it is also the worlds poorest. Poverty, illiteracy and inadequate access to some of the most basic amenities in life are a common feature in South Asia. Indeed, nearly half the worlds poor are concentrated in the South Asia region. We can ill afford to ignore such widespread deprivation in our midst, not merely on humanitarian grounds but also from the standpoint of regional stability. Furthermore, historical conflicts, fanned by traditional prejudices, ethnic differences and religious intolerance have tended to exacerbate instability both within and between South Asian countries, resulting in the diversion of critically needed developmental resources towards the build up of armaments for defence and security needs. Indeed, South Asia is also one of the most volatile regions in the world.
It is rather disappointing that our region continues to be beset with serious problems holding up our progress towards complete regional integration. Yet, these hindrances notwithstanding, we have embarked upon the path of regional cooperation, convinced of the benefits that will accrue to our peoples through concerted action taken together. Ten years have elapsed since we took that historic decision. As we mark the tenth anniversary of SAARC, it is only befitting that we should pause to look thoughtfully ahead to the future, with a view to consolidating our past achievements. Where do we go from here?
Indeed, in charting out a future course of action, we must not only be aware of the limitations learnt from the past experience, but also aim at strengthening our Organisation to realise the full potentials of regional cooperation. The scope of our activities need not only to be widened, but deepened in such a way that tangible benefits from our endeavours reach the common man.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues,
While we may take heart from the entry into force of SAPTA in our region, we must at the same time be fully aware that this represents but only a small step in the right direction. SAPTA does indeed offer us a window of opportunity that we should exploit and expand in the future, in order that we may reap the benefits of closer regional economic integration.
The subject of poverty has also been receiving increasing attention since the Sixth SAARC Summit held in Colombo. The designation of 1995 as the "SAARC Year of Poverty Eradication " and the adoption of a Plan of Action to Eradicate Poverty by the Year 2002 are reflective of the increasing importance being given to the subject by member countries. The three tier mechanism proposed by the Finance Ministers in Dhaka in 1994 is now in place, the first two tiers having met earlier this year and the third tier, is due to be initiated in the near future. These efforts, we hope will pave the way towards addressing the concerns of the poor in the region, helping to harness their productive capacity through self reliant development.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues,
The Secretary General's report has highlighted the need to strengthen the Secretariat due to the increasing demands being made on the Secretariat as a result of new initiatives undertaken by SAARC.
While we fully appreciate that the Secretariat must be adequately equipped to fulfil the tasks entrusted to it in an efficient manner, we must also be mindful of the limitation of resources the member states have. The Second Special Session of the Standing Committee has reviewed the role and functioning of the Secretariat earlier this year and their recommendations in this regard should be adopted. Indeed, in strengthening the SAARC Secretariat, our focus should be on identifying innovative and flexible ways of enhancing the efficiency of the Secretariat with minimum financial burden on member countries. At the same time, we must also ensure that the Secretariat is allowed to function impartially and independently, its primary role being the promotion of regional cooperation in agreed areas.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues,
The world today is changing with such rapidity that unless we fall in step with the times, we in South Asia will be left behind. As we move towards the turn of the century, the trend towards regionalism in all parts of the world is gaining momentum. It would appear that, in the post cold war era, the major players in the world will be the regional bodies that have emerged or are about to emerge in the future.
The traffic of influence will no doubt flow both ways; but I feel that, the opportunities that we will be getting, as a regional body, to influence on events affecting the lives of our peoples will increase. So let us strengthen our organisation and move forward with confidence and resilience.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues,
SAARC Charter has confined us from dealing with what is termed as "contentious issues". The circumstances prevailing at the time of the inception of SAARC may have necessitated such a provision. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that such an exclusion has tended to deprive us from seizing the opportunities to exploit the potential of our regional institution, in any manner, to resolve issues of high sensitivity in the region.
I agree that the forum of SAARC should not be the place to discuss "contentious issues", and interfere in bilateral issues of member countries. Nevertheless, if problems persist, and member countries are unable to resolve the differences through dialogue and negotiation, and if perpetuity of a dispute is perceived as an abridging factor to our cooperative undertaking, then, there should be a way we could help in generating an environment of trust and compromise which will impel away prejudices, and attitudes of intolerance. The creation of a mechanism of exploratory nature to deal with acute problems in the region may be an advantageous exercise in raising the regional cooperation in South Asia to a higher plane.
Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, distinguished delegates,
We have indeed come a long way from the time when the late President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh first conceived the idea of a regional arrangement in South Asia for the social and economic benefit of the peoples in the region. Yet, it is also apparent that regional cooperation is still in its formative stage in South Asia. The road ahead is replete with challenges and opportunities. As the world approaches the new millennium, and we in South Asia witness the dawn of a new decade of SAARC, let us renew our commitment and rededicate ourselves to bring new vigour and dynamism to our association of regional cooperation.
Thank you.
STATEMENT BY
HIS EXCELLENCY DR. PRAKASH CHANDRA LOHANI
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF NEPAL
Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, Distinguishes Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me to begin, Mr. Chairman. by expressing my personal appreciation and that of my delegation to H.E. Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister of India for his important inaugural address. The Prime Minister's address has set the tone for our deliberations at this session. It is a matter of satisfaction that our Association has had the benefit of the Indian chairmanship at this juncture when SAARC has completed ten years of its existence and entered the second decade.
It is a pleasure to see you, Sir, chair the Sixteenth Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers. Your wide experiences, knowledge and wisdom will be important assets to our endeavour to set agenda for SAARC in the years to come.
I wish to avail myself of this opportunity to express my delegation's appreciation to the friendly Government and people of India for the warm welcome and generous hospitality accorded to us and our appreciation of the arrangements made for this meeting.
May I also take this opportunity to pay warm compliments to H.E. Mr. Y.K. Silwal, SecretaryGeneral of SAARC, for the excellent and dedicated manner in which he has carried out his responsibilities. As Mr. Silwal approaches the completion of his tenure, we thank him and wish him all the best. His Majesty's Government of Nepal welcomes nomination by the Government of Pakistan of H.E. Mr. Naeemuddin Hasan for the post of Secretary-General of SAARC. We look forward to welcoming him in Kathmandu and assure him our full cooperation.
Mr. Chairman,
We have before us the report of the twentyfirst session of the Standing Committee together with the report of the SecretaryGeneral on the activities of the Association. I will comment briefly on some items in these reports before moving on to the other items on our agenda.
Entry into force of the Agreement on SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) on December 7 is a milestone in the history of our Association. South Asia has onefifth of the total world population. It's share in total world output and in the world trade is, however, minuscule. InterSAARC trade itself constitutes a very small fraction of the international trade of the member states. The successive rounds of GATT negotiations in the Uruguay Round have culminated in agreements on reducing tariff and on establishment of a single regulatory organization. The process of strengthening existing economic blocs and zones and creating new ones has gathered further momentum. Against these developments, SAPTA is an important, albeit modest, beginning. We must make sure that its effective implementation does not get bogged down in official formalities and bureaucratic procedures. Apart from the content it is implementation that is important for progress in achieving the benefits of regional economic cooperation. Success of SAPTA, could then provide the basis for more advanced forms of regional cooperation in the future.
It is a matter of satisfaction that the two of the threetier mechanism on poverty eradication have held their meetings and the Finance and Planning Ministers from the SAARC countries are scheduled to meet in New Delhi in early January next year. Upon completion of this exercise, Nepal would like the outcome and efficacy of the mechanism to be evaluated thoroughly. There cannot be one single route to poverty eradication. Each of our seven countries will have to evolve national strategies suited to individual circumstances and existing institutional mechanisms. We, however, have many problems in common and sharing of experiences will strengthen national efforts. Our efforts within SAARC should be directed towards facilitating regional macroeconomic stability which stimulate economic growth in each member state. Creation of productive employment opportunities is the best answer to the challenge of poverty. SAARC should also facilitate implementation of human resources development schemes in member states. Declaration of the 1990s as the SAARC Decade of the Girlchild represents our special commitment to the most vulnerable group in our society. Nepal hopes that the forthcoming middecade review will be an occasion for deliberations on further concrete programmes for the benefit of the girlchild.
Mr. Chairman,
We have noted that you have been continuing your consultations with the European Union and the ASEAN to promote cooperation between SAARC and these important regional organizations. It is also satisfying to note that SAARC has signed memorandums of understanding with a number of international and regional organizations and similar action with some other organizations is under active consideration. In this context, I wish to underline the need to keep the focus of cooperation with these organizations on the agreed priorities of SAARC.
Mr. Chairman,
Outside our region the world is changing rapidly. Regional integration is no longer a simple political aspiration; it has become an economic necessity. With rapid strides towards economic integration in Europe, North America and East Asia, a region rather than a nation state is emerging as the key arena for policy making in the political and economic spheres. The present trends indicate that trade, investment, information and technology will flow increasingly within and between regional markets. Those left out face the prospect of stalled economic development. Given this scenario, unless the economic growth rate of our region increases along with a rise in intraregional as well as inter regional trade, South Asia runs the danger of being increasingly marginalized in the future. Despite bonds of geography, history and culture and despite common adherence to the principles of the United Nations and the NonAligned Movement, South Asia has been slow in grasping the enormous potential of a joint approach to collective wellbeing. With SAPTA, we have taken the first step towards the process of regional Integration, but there is a long way ahead. In line with the emerging trend in the world economy, a South Asian economic perspective that allows international investors to take a regional view in their investment decisions in areas like energy, infrastructure etc. could also be visualized. This is essential since a great deal of faith and reliance on international institutions like the World Bank has at times proved to be an inadequate strategy for countries in this region.
Mr. Chairman,
It might be pertinent to recall that the Second SAARC Summit had identified a number of new areas of cooperation. The SAARC Chairs, SAARC Fellowships and SAARC Scholarships Schemes need to be rescued from the limbo they have descended into. We need to expand education links, emphasis being given to scientific, technical and vocational education and to the development of managerial and entrepreneurial skills. We could think in terms of designating and supporting selected institutions as centres of excellence to provide training to students from the region. The SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme could be broadened to cover tourist and business travels and promote peopleto-people contact. We ought to implement the earlier agreed programme to set up a special clearing account, as the foreign exchange is a constraint, to facilitate tourist travels. We should work out cooperative programmes to develop the service sector with the objective of creating an adequate infrastructure in telecommunication, informatics and development of producer services with close links to productive sector and improvement of trade balance in services. Similarly we should not hesitate to take advantage of opportunities for sectoral cooperation in the form of regional investment projects in areas like energy and water resources. Likewise efforts for the establishment of the South Asian Development Fund requires our attention along with a plan to secure external contribution.
Mr. Chairman,
Poverty is the scourge of South Asia and it cripples creative capacity of the people. Poverty is, first of all, a matter of domestic institution that discriminates structurally and systematically against the poor. Doing something about poverty calls for hard decisions about land tenure, rural reconstruction, basic needs strategies, education, productivity incentive and corruption. The fight against hunger, diseases and illiteracy cannot be left to market forces alone. The fundamental responsibility for providing social welfare and services will remain with the governments, whatever the configuration of economic systems. We have to concentrate all our energy and resources to place human beings at the centre of our development efforts. Empowerment of the poor alone can ensure their productive participation in development efforts. We also need a sustained economic growth that is employment oriented for only in an expanding economy that can generate adequate jobs can mass poverty be eradicated. Through SAARC we should work for a vision of development that can inspire and mobilize the people.
Mr. Chairman,
The vision of a better, peaceful and prosperous South Asia would require infusion of resources on a massive scale. The basic component of our renewed efforts must be our own resources, individual and collective. Nature has blessed our countries with complementary resources; South Asia has a rich pool of capital resources, scientific and technical skills. Their prudent use through a cooperative mechanism can be made to yield benefits to all our countries. In this context, the idea of setting up a South Asian Economic Conference to examine various facets of regional cooperation needs to be explored.
Mr. Chairman,
It is time now to think about the role of SAARC SecretaryGeneral and the Secretariat in promoting regional economic cooperation in the future. Are we satisfied with the presently assigned role of the SecretaryGeneral and his staff? Do we want them to play an active role in taking initiatives and recommending new courses of actions to promote regional cooperation? This is an important question that should receive attention, if we want the next ten years to be a period of concrete achievements.
Mr. Chairman,
It has been ten years since SAARC came into existence. It is time that we try to evaluate the performance of the organisation and see if it measures to our expectations. But what were our expectations and aspirations when the organisation was launched ten years ago.
Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, ladies and Gentlemen,
SAARC was started with the simple objective of promoting the welfare of the people of South Asia through effective regional cooperation between the seven countries in the region. It was a bold vision in view of the fact that there are difficult political problems between the countries in the region and also great asymmetry in size, population and resources. Even though SAARC countries share many strands of common civilization and culture, there had been little feeling of a regional community and regional interest. In this setting the vision of SAARC represented the willingness to, explore new and uncharted territory for the benefit of all the people in the region. The last ten years towards regional Cooperation in South Asia has been marked by a series of cautious and hesitating steps in the direction of identifying areas of cooperation that are least intrusive in terms of their effects on the policies and programmes of individual member states. We have to overcome the reluctance to explore the advantages of the economics of neighbourhood for it would require some degree of coordination in the economic policies and programmes of individual member states.
In the coming decade the challenge is to gradually overcome this reluctance to benefit from the economics of neighbourhood, setting aside political issues that defy quick and easy solutions. This is going to be difficult but certainly not impossible if there is enough political will among the member states of the region.
Thank you.
STATEMENT BY
HIS EXCELLENCY SARDAR ASEFF AHMAD ALI
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF PAKISTAN
Mr. Chairman ,Distinguished Colleagues ,Mr. SecretaryGeneral ,.Excellencies
It is a privilege for me to have this opportunity to address this historic commemorative session, on the occasion of the First Decade celebrations of our Association. We have rightly chosen the theme for this Special Session to be "Vision for the Second Decade". While we must appreciate as well as critically examine the passing decade, it is to the future that we must now give our full attention.
South Asia is home to onefifth of mankind. It is endowed with a rich heritage. It is the meltingpot of many diverse cultures and traditions which make up its inherent strength. Our peoples share the common aspiration of economic wellbeing. They aspire for a life of peace and dignity. Our countries confront the common challenge of sustainable economic and social development.
There is a certain urgency in the need to meet these challenges. No nation, no region can afford to remain unconcerned about the pace of progress that other regions have achieved. It is apparent that great and momentous changes are taking place in the global scene.
South Asia cannot remain immune to the transformation of the international environment. The countries of the region are already moving towards economic liberalisation in varying degrees. While we can draw lessons from the experiences of others, we must tailor them to our own needs and unique requirements. Through our combined efforts the full potential of South Asia can be realised. There is no dearth of talent or resources to help us to move in this direction.
Mr. Chairman
In the coming Decade, our Association must move forward to consolidate the gains of the first Decade. The shared vision and idealism of SAARC must remain intact. We must strive to strengthen the institutional mechanism that we have so painstakingly built. The strong foundations that we have put down, are ready to support the house of SAARC. It is on building this house that we must now concentrate.
We can rightly be proud of our Association. Notwithstanding a degree of scepticism, SAARC has moved ahead. Concerted efforts have been made by Member States in the march towards the goal of poverty eradication. Our combined efforts are bound to benefit our people. By designating 1995 as the "Year of Poverty Alleviation", Member States have reaffirmed their abiding commitment to jointly eradicate poverty. As we enter the Second Decade, we must carry this crucial effort forward. We are confident that, through mutual cooperation and support, this objective, though difficult, will be eventually attained.
The region has turned a new leaf with the establishment of SAPTA. In due course of time, its benefits will be confirmed. The process has been gradual. Yet, the effort has not been in vain.
We have noted with satisfaction the progress made in the domain of trade and economic cooperation, particularly following the last meeting of the CEC. Likewise, the new agreements signed with other organisations and institutions will pave the way for substantive cooperation.
The establishment of the South Asian Development Fund (SADF) will open a new and viable channel for the inflow and management of regional financial resources.
SAARC has been productively engaged in a whole range of important activities. To mention but a few, these encompass the areas of agriculture, rural development, women in development, science and technology and control of drugtrafficking. These have served to strengthen the fabric of cooperation among Member States.
We need to translate SAARC's achievements into tangible benefits for our citizens. We need to ensure that SAARC remains relevant to our peoples to their aspirations and legitimate hopes. This would require patience and perseverance. Above all, it will require commitment.
Mr. Chairman,
In striving to do all this, we will have to remain sensitive to the needs and limitations of the smaller economies. The push to development must remain an equitable endeavour and must ensure an equal distribution of opportunities. In building on the achievement of SAPTA, the interests of LDCs must remain uppermost in the minds of the negotiators. In formulating the Integrated Plan of Action, it must be ensured that all Member States have an opportunity to participate in the Plan. In negotiating cooperation agreements with international and regional organisations, the interests of the smaller economies must be protected. I say this because it is evident to us that unless the region can move forward as an integrated whole, with minimum internal disparities, it will not be possible to derive the optimum benefits of regional cooperation.
The coming Decade of SAARC will carry our Association into the next millennium. Worldwide, there is a special focus on this historical metaphor. The transition to the 21st century is a moment of anticipation, a time of reflection, a period of stocktaking, as much of looking ahead. Worldwide, nations are gearing up to face the expected challenges of the next century. The primary impulse in this new age is the search for prosperity and political stability. The end of the Cold War provides us an opportunity to marshal our resources anew, and to liberate ourselves from the political constraints of the bygone era.
Nations which do not have the confidence or courage to ride this new wave, will be left standing on the shores of despair. Indeed, Regions which do not grasp the direction of this rising impulse, will be left by the wayside as destitute and mendicants. SAARC, as an association of States, cannot afford to ignore the global trends. SAARC cannot continue to depend upon the minimal commitment of resources and means, if it is to keep pace with the new global trends.
I am confident that this is a vision we all share. In the coming Decade, we will have to find the resources to give substance to our aims and objectives. We will have to devise failsafe mechanisms to ensure the success of our efforts. We will have to mobilize the regional resources and tap the indigenous expertise, both of which are adequately available.
Further progress will require more innovative and resultoriented strategies. SAARC will have to be institutionally reenforced and strengthened so that it can become an effective vehicle for common regional cooperative efforts. Mutually supportive interaction among Member States through the evolution of such institutionalised mechanisms would give greater content to SAARC.
Not only must we strengthen the SAARC Secretariat, we must energise the other institutions of SAARC that we have established. In order to do so, greater resources, both financial and technical, will have to be committed by Member States. Areas that will require our special attention include: trade; investments; infrastructure; environment and social development. These are areas which require application of mind, technology and resources. Our region will be able to make advances in these areas only through institutionalised cooperation. Regional efforts will have to supplement and complement national efforts. SAARC will have to reach out to other regions as well, to benefit from the global march towards progress and prosperity.
As we look ahead, we must be inspired by a bold vision of a future South Asia which has carved its rightful place in the comity of nations. As Member States, we must exhibit a genuine will and commitment to bring peace and prosperity to our region. A durable peace would require the courage to address the basic issues and differences that impact on our relations. There is no reason why this common forum of ours should not be used for removing such impediments. We owe this to our people. We cannot shy away from this responsibility. We cannot afford not to rise to this challenge.
Mr. Chairman,
Pakistan joins its partners in SAARC in felicitating the governments and people of the region on the occasion of the commemoration of the completion of the First Decade.
At the national level a series of activities and programmes were held in Pakistan to commemorate the occasion. These included a SAARC walk, cultural shows, painting/photographic exhibition, tree plantation, quiz contest, and an official reception. We propose further to organise essay writing competitions and symposia and seminars. A health education campaign is planned to be conducted on the civic and medical aspects of blood donation. A postage stamp will be issued on the occasion. Special programmes broadcast by Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television included one on the First Decade of SAARC and another on Poverty Eradication.
As we look to the future, I would like to assure you, on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan, that we remain committed to taking the SAARC process forward. We will not be found wanting in our effort to strengthen the Association for the common benefit of all our peoples.
Mr. Chairman
I should like to take this opportunity to place on record my government's sincere appreciation for the dynamic role that His Excellency Mr. Y.K. Silwal, Secretary General has played in the progress of the Association. His sagacity and wisdom have significantly contributed to SAARC as an institution. He has set very high standards for his successors. I wish him all success in his future life.
Before I conclude, I should like to thank, on behalf of myself and the members of my delegation, the Government and the people of India for the warm hospitality extended to us. We are also grateful for the excellent conference arrangements. I am confident, Mr. Chairman, that under your wise guidance and counsel, the deliberations of this conference will be productive and fruitful. Ü
STATEMENT BY
HIS EXCELLENCY MR. LAKSHMAN KADIRGAMAR
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF SRI LANKA
Mr Chairman, Your Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen,
As we meet to commemorate the first decade of SAARC's existence, let me begin by stating how greatly honoured we were by the presence of His Excellency Shri Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister of India as the Chief Guest at this Inaugural Session. His address has been both inspiring and thought provoking and sets the tone not only for our current sessions but also offers guidance as we seek to chart a course for the second decade of SAARC.
I would also like to take this opportunity to pay a tribute to His Excellency Mr Y K Silwal, SecretaryGeneral of SAARC, who will be leaving us at the end of this year at the conclusion of his term of office, which has seen a number of significant developments, notably the ratification of SAPTA. We thank him for his valuable contribution and wish him well in his future endeavours.
I would like also to express our sincere thanks to the Government of India for their generous hospitality, and to compliment all those who have contributed to the excellent arrangements made for our meeting. It has been our good fortune to be able to avail of both that hospitality and of that managerial efficiency, earlier this year as well, when the 8th SAARC Summit was held in Delhi.
Mr Chairman, ten years ago in Dhaka, in the Assembly Hall of the Parliament, in the presence of an impressive and representative gathering, the Leaders of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka affixed their signatures to a document which sought to create a framework for regional cooperation in South Asia. The day was 8th December 1985 and the document was the SAARC Charter. It was in this wise that South Asian regional cooperation became a reality.
When structured South Asian regional cooperation was first envisaged, it was widely recognised that we in the region were enmeshed in historical legacies of mistrust and disputation. The central issue facing those concerned with forging SAARC was twofold on the one hand whether cooperating in the practicalities of socioeconomic interaction would help generate the trust and confidence which alone can underpin a shared political perception on the other, whether we would first have to get to that point of a common vision in order to impart the necessary momentum for meaningful cooperation in core areas of socioeconomic interaction. The decision of the pioneers of regional cooperation was to proceed simultaneously and vigorously along twin tracks.
On one plane it was to develop to the greatest extent feasible projects and programmes of interaction in as wide as possible a range of activities in socioeconomic and technical fields. On another plane, it was hoped that by preparing for frequent and regular meetings of regional leaders and their ministers, the necessary process of "getting to know you" could be initiated, with a view to developing mutual understanding, confidence and trust.
Certainly, during its 1st decade SAARC has been able to set in place the necessary institutional measures for functional cooperation in several economic and social sectors. These include agriculture, communications and transport, science and technology, tourism, culture and sports, education, health and population activities etc. Apart from this SAARC has also made progress in creating an awareness as to the problems faced by the more vulnerable segments of society in South Asia, specifically women and children, the disabled and the youth.
At the same time, it would not be correct to see SAARC as having, during the past decade, confined itself only to social and economic issues. SAARC was bold enough to discuss the issue of terrorism and agree on a Regional Convention for its suppression, as far back as 1987. This decision of SAARC was at that time perhaps in advance of the comparable measures taken by other regional organisations and intergovernmental groupings. However, it must be accepted that up to now the full effect of this Convention has not been realised, because not all the MemberStates have enacted the necessary enabling legislation to meet their obligations under the Convention. This lacuna, I hope Mr Chairman, would shortly be redressed. Indeed, may I say that it is gratifying that the G7 in its recent Ministerial Declaration on Countering Terrorism adopted in Ottawa on 12th December, has envisaged measures very similar to the provisions of our own Regional Convention.
Trafficking in narcotic drugs is closely related in our region to the activities of terrorist movements. The funds realised by this illicit trafficking have been used by terrorist groups to threaten the interests of States and to destabilise their legal governments. In our regional Convention on this subject we have an effective mechanism to combat this menace. It is imperative that we make full use of the institutions established up to now under these two Conventions, namely, the SAARC Terrorist Offences Monitoring Desk and the SAARC Drug Offences Monitoring Desk.
Mr Chairman,
In the second half of its first decade we saw SAARC venturing out into core areas of economic cooperation. The most significant in this regard was the commencement of trade liberalisation through SAPTA. We can congratulate ourselves on the fact that SAPTA has now become operational. Due to various factors, of which we are all too aware, the initial round of concessions under SAPTA had to be more of a symbolic nature. The current international climate however requires that for our regional economic growth, we need to move beyond these symbolic concessions. At the same time our experience in negotiating SAPTA and its first round of trade preferences has, I believe, given us the necessary confidence that we can indeed do much more. This confidence certainly manifested itself during the meeting of the Commerce Secretaries last month in New Delhi.
The Commerce Secretaries agreed that the first round of trade negotiations for widening and deepening the existing tariff cuts could now begin through the mechanism of a further round of InterGovernmental Group Meetings. Besides further tariff reductions there has also been agreement that the new IGG would focus on the elimination of nontariff barriers and other trade control measures. I believe we all realise, Mr. Chairman, that unless these barriers to trade are eliminated, the mere reduction of tariffs would not amount to anything more than the left hand taking away what the right hand has given. The second round of IGG Meetings therefore could be even more important than the first round. The Council of Ministers too could contribute substantially to the success of the second round of the IGG by reiterating its call for the speedy and timebound elimination of trade barriers.
While in this process of trade liberalization the Governments are taking the necessary institutional and fiscal measures, the private sectors of our countries must themselves resolve to take advantage of this enabling climate, particularly in view of our common adoption of a free market developmental pattern. The establishment of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry and its recognition by SAARC as a regional apex body was certainly a very positive development. I am happy to inform the Council that in this context of generating interaction amongst business communities in our countries we in Sri Lanka were also able to make a further contribution through the convening of a Business Leaders' Forum in Colombo. It is the aggregation of such efforts, both at the governmental level and private sector levels, which will in the final analysis determine the success of our endeavours.
In regard to meaningful cooperation in core economic areas we will, however, be affected by an inescapable factor applicable to us all. I refer to the assymetry of the Membercountries of our region in terms of physical and material resources, managerial and technical expertise and levels of development. All cooperation is at heart a matter of give and take. Where a significant assymetry prevails, it is necessary for those who have to give rather more. That sort of exchange can only stem from a prior attainment of mutual confidence and friendship, which will encourage such generosity. It is at this point that the other plane of SAARC activities becomes relevant. It had been hoped that the frequent and regular meetings of leaders and other ministers under the SAARC umbrella would be availed of by the participants to indulge in informal confidential exchanges amongst themselves. This would have helped to disabuse their minds of misunderstandings and suspicion, and to develop common perceptions regarding their situation and their future. Regrettably the record of success in this venture has been patchy. One recalls the exchanges between the Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers at the 1988 SAARC Summit. One also recalls the earlier bilateral exchanges between the Indian Prime Minister and the Sri Lankan President at the 1986 SAARC Summit. Notwithstanding the arrangement where by this process had been encouraged by expressly excluding bilateral disputes and contentious issues from formal deliberations at SAARC Meetings, a lack of mutual confidence has prevented these issues being considered even privately and informally.
However, unless the opportunities of these meetings are exploited by the participants, we are unlikely to move forward with any discernible success in developing mutual confidence and trust. There are suggestions even now that SAARC should embark upon an open and frank consideration of contentious political issues which would prepare the participants for further free and frank exchange.
One practical way out of this difficulty is of course for SAARC ministers and officials to meet as frequently and regularly as circumstances warrant, to forge common viewpoints and decisions in our interaction with the outside world. There was a beginning of this process when a Ministerial Meeting in Dhaka prepared a common SAARC position for the 4th Women's Conference in Beijing. Another instance will arise at the projected meeting of the SAARC Food Ministers in anticipation of the World Food Summit in 1996.
In this context, it now gives me great pleasure formally to propose that Sri Lanka hosts a Ministerial Meeting in the field of Housing, by way of preparation for a common SAARC position at the Habitat II Meeting to be held in Istanbul in June 1996.
As we enter the second decade, the challenge before us in SAARC is twofold: firstly, to realise the full potential of our collective endeavours and secondly thereby to fulfil the expectations of our peoples. What this requires in the final analysis, Mr. Chairman, is for us, the Leaders and Ministers of the region to manifest the courage of our convictions.
TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF SAARC VISION FOR THE SECOND DECADE
A publication of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
Kathmandu, Nepal
January 1996
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