Postponement Weakens SAARC

Pakistan OBSERVER, Wed, February,09, 2005.

Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema


Once again India has managed to secure the undesired postponement of 13^th SAARC Summit that was scheduled to be held at Dhaka on 6^th Feb.2005. The 13^th Summit was originally scheduled to be held 9-11 January but was put off because of tsunami that hit the region in late December. This is the fifth time India has pulled out of the regional Summit at the last moment. The latest postponement has not only injected disappointment all round but it has also specifically angered the Bangladeshis. Perhaps that is why the Bangladeshis have termed the latest Indian move as ‘unwarranted’ and ‘unacceptable’. While all members were looking forward to have a constructive exchange of views over number of multilateral and bilateral issues, the Bangladeshis were looking forward to play host to this important Summit.

To prepare for the holding of any Summit entails multi-dimensional comprehensive preparations and a long check list. Perhaps that is why the decision to hold next Summit is invariably decided a year ahead of its actual schedule enabling the host country to make the requisite arrangements. It is obvious that the host country would like to secure the acceptance of all the participating heads of the governments as soon as possible. If all the preparations are made and if one of the member decides at the last moment not to attend and seeks postponement, it often results in enormous wastage of resources and generates disappointments. Perhaps that is why the host is always very keen to secure the acceptance first and then proceed towards the desired level of preparations.

A wide variety of excuses have been projected and circulated by the Indians in order to justify this latest postponement. Among the officially advanced excuses included the developments in Nepal as well as what India terms as ‘the continuing and deteriorating security situation in Bangladesh’. The Indian officials told the reporters that the decision not to attend the Summit was taken in the light of their own security team that is currently in Dhaka.

The Bangladeshis forcefully rejected Indian reasons and expressed shock over the latest move of Indian foreign policy. According to Bangladeshi officials the Indian security concerns were fully considered and accommodated. Yet the Indian government decided to announce their inability to attend the Summit. It invokes intriguing vibes when one realises that the announcement was made at a time when the Indian security team was still in Dhaka and consulting with their counterparts in Bangladesh.

Undoubtedly the best judge of security situation should be the Bangladeshis themselves rather than any of the other member country. If the Bangladeshis felt that they are satisfied with the security arrangements deemed necessary for the holding of Summit, it is expected that other members would respect the host’s decision. One can easily comprehend the security concerns of each member country but in multilateral organisations, the emphasis should always be on multilateral approach. To sabotage the Summit by a bilateral approach is indeed unlikely to strengthen SAARC.

The second reason advanced by the Indian official referred to the developments in Nepal which the Indians termed as serious. Not only the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries should have been guiding influence but it should have been left to the Nepalese themselves as it is their internal matter of Nepal and the Nepalese officials are the best judge whether or not to send their officials to participate in the 13^th Summit. Strangely the Nepalese have not sought the postponement of the Summit though one could have easily comprehended their concerns if they had sought the postponement.

Some quarters have also expressed the view that the Indians were not prepared to meet leaders of many SAARC countries at this particular juncture. Some Indian political parties expressed their anger and stressed that King’s action in Nepal has seriously affected the cause of democracy. While one can enter into a debate whether or not Indian argument is logical, it still amounts to interference in the internal affairs of a country. Admittedly no country would be immune to adverse developments in a neighbouring country and the Indian argument may have some logic in their argument, but to express dissatisfaction by sabotaging the regional Summit erodes whatever logic it may have entailed.

It needs to be stressed here that postponement of a Summit without a convincing argument tends to weaken the very rationale of the regional organization. Already the past record of SAARC is not very impressive. It is almost 20 years old organization but it has not much to show. Frequent postponement of Summits tends to take a heavy toll of its credibility and injects injurious delays. Following the successful outcomes of the 12^th Summit, the region was looking forward for effective mechanism to implement the major decisions that were taken at the last Summit.

While both the South Asian Free Trade Agreement and Social Charter were impressive achievements, the need of the hours was to develop a mechanism for implementation of SAFTA and Social Charter. Most South Asians, including many Indians, were looking forward to some tangible outcomes in this regard. To many the postponement does not appear justifiable. The postponement does tend to dampen the reinvigorated spirit of SAARC and quest for strengthening regionalism in South Asia.

Given the less than satisfactory pace of progress, it is not surprising if some circles begin to entertain ideas regarding the revamping of the SAARC Charter. Many of its decisions remain somewhat stagnant in the forms of agreements, protocols, conventions, reports, studies etc. The demonstrated progress made by both the European Union and ASEAN should act as a beacon of light and we should look inward with a view to identifying the stumbling blocs and then embark on path to progress. This is not an idealist goal. All we have to do is to get out of the cobweb of internal bickering and disputes. We need to strictly adhere to principles of non-interference. We should shy away from the idea of evolving a regional mechanism of conflict resolution.

The basic rationale of SAARC is to realise economic potential of the region through collective regional efforts. Undoubtedly as we go along the impediments and stumbling blocs are becoming more and more visible providing us opportunities to effectively deal with them collectively. Instead of working towards mutually beneficial ends through collective considerations, the postponement of a highest forum such as Summit level discussions needs to be avoided.  

The writer works for Islamabad Policy Research Institute.