The 17th SAARC summit in the Maldives beginning next Thursday is expected to take up a number of issues like the "climate change" which are critically important for the eight-member regional forum. It is expected that the member-countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will spare no efforts to turn the 26-year-old forum more action-oriented towards the avowed goal of collective cooperation. Leaders of all the member-nations are scheduled to attend the two-day conference. It will review the progress made since the last summit in Bhutan and seek to explore new areas of cooperation while strengthening the fields where cooperation is delivering the benefits.
The Indian ocean island state of the Maldives, although small in size and population, has hosted the SAARC summit twice before; but it is for the first time that the nation is organising the event under a democratic government. President Mohammad Nasheed is the first democratically elected leader of the country under the multi-party system. He has pledged to make the summit an effective gathering that would help accelerate the pace of cooperation in the region. Several member-countries including Bangladesh are assisting the Maldives in hosting the big event and some "Observers" of the SAARC have also extended their hands of cooperation for the successful staging of the next SAARC summit.
Indeed, it is praiseworthy since the smallest member of the forum is holding the summit with great interest, despite its manifold limitations. The Maldives had done fairly well earlier in staging the SAARC summit when Mamoon Abdul Ghyaoom was the president as he took immense interest in the growth and development of the regional forum, even though his nature of governance lacked democratic practices. While that is an internal matter of a member-state, it is expected that the 17th summit under a democratic dispensation in the Maldives will be more vibrant and action-oriented.
True, the SAARC since its inception at the first summit in Dhaka in 1985, has come a long way in a region bedeviled by political divides, on one hand, and resource constraints, on the other. But cynics say the forum has largely failed to accomplish the desired objectives mainly for the reason that it has not been able to function smoothly, mainly again for the political problems among the member states. Such views are not entirely baseless as problems between its two players at the centre of the regional spectrum -- India and Pakistan -- have often adversely affected the forum. Besides, political differences among other member nations also played a negative role at times -- albeit on a much smaller scale.
But it will be unkind to ignore the achievements of the SAARC that has identified and developed cooperation in diverse fields ranging from food security to sports and culture. These feats may not be very remarkable, but not small either when considered that south Asia is also known internationally for political and other crises that clearly impede the progress and development. Of course, paucity of fund has always been a retarding factor -- impeding the process of the expected growth of the forum. Nonetheless, the SAARC has delivered benefits to its member states in a variety of areas, apart from instilling an aroma of fellowship and fraternity -- the differences notwithstanding.
It is also true that many important areas like the trade and commerce could not make desirable progress in a spirit of cooperation since some member states looked askance at each other's "intentions" or at times driven by self-interest. But this is a positive sign that such contentious issues could also largely be thrashed out, even though the process took time and somewhat unnecessarily. One notable aspect about the SAARC is that the spirit of collective spirit has so far triumphed, mostly belying the negativities.
For instance, Pakistan, just on the eve of the coming SAARC summit, has announced "most favoured nation" treatment to India in trade and commerce and this has come as a pleasant surprise to many. This has come close on the heels of Islamabad's election as a member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) when New Delhi, already a member of the UNSC, extended support to its arch traditional rival. This development also raised eye-brows in some quarters. But the bottom line is that all these are done in a commendable spirit. Probably, the SAARC ambience is contributing to the healthy conditions. Unquestionably, this attitude is praiseworthy.
Needless to say, much of the SAARC success is contingent upon the cooperation and cordial ties among the these two members of the forum. Their major problems are too vexed and defies on easy resolution, but broad friendly relations would definitely help the SAARC.
The summit in the Maldives will take up some very critically important issues like the "Climate Change" that are inextricably linked with the vital interests of several members including the host itself. The Maldives faces the threat of most -- its most parts may go under the sea at one stage because of this dangerous climate change. Other matters aimed at socio-economic uplift of the nearly 1.5 billion people living in south Asia should also receive greater attention of the summit.
Undeniably, the millions in this region are mired in abject poverty. Hopefully, the SAARC would be more dynamic cutting across the political and other divides and come, at least, close to fulfilling the goals of the forum that has been so assiduously grown and nurtured despite myriad obstacles and limitations. Let us wait for the emergence of a more action-oriented SAARC from the coming summit.
E-mail: zaglulbss@yahoo.com
Source: thefinancialexpress-bd.com
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