By Farooq Tariq
The 18th South Asian Associations for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit took place in Kathmandu, Nepal on November 25 and 26. The heads of the eight states of South Asia took part in the summit.
Kathmandu was a showcase of what has happened repeatedly in the three decades since the birth of the SAARC. Leaders make rhetorical speeches and spend time on expensive retreats and sightseeing — then head home forgetting what was said in the summit hall.
“SAARC remains largely ineffective, hostage to the political polemics of member-nations, particularly India and Pakistan,” said Professor Imtiaz Ahmed of the International Relations department of Dhaka University.
A People’s SAARC summit was held as an alternative in Kathmandu from November 22-25. About 5000 social and political activists took part its opening ceremony on November 22. There were 71 workshops held to discuss an alternative agenda for SAARC heads of the state to consider.
It was organized by the People’s SAARC Steering Committee, made up of 14 leading activists from all eight countries of the region.
Three agreements were supposed to be signed at the 18th SAARC summit to improve road and rail connections and integrate power trade in the region.
The eight-member countries of SAARC are India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Since its inception in 1985, SAARC signed a number of agreements and conventions but faltered in translating ideas into collective actions.
For instance, the SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism was inked in 1987, within two years of the group’s birth. Extra protocols to the convention updated the strategies in 2004. But, in reality, it was not effective, as several South Asian nations have seen a rise in terrorism.
There are other examples as well. The SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement, which was finalized in 1993, came into effect in 1995. It was followed by the South Asian Free Trade Agreement in 2004. But those remain unimplemented, as issues of non-tariff and para-tariff barriers are yet to be addressed.
Moreover, the SAARC Food Bank Agreement was signed in 2007, but it is yet to be implemented. SAARC Development Fund was constituted in 2008 and SAARC Seed Bank in 2011, but none of those has seen much success.
Two of the important SAARC countries, Pakistan and India have been close to war on several occasions during the last 30 years of its existence. Border clashes have become a norm in recent months particularly since Indian Prime Minister Nardner Modi has come into power in India.
Pakistani Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and Modi both shook hands and spoke informally for five minutes. That was all that they had to offer each other. The two nuclear-armed nations have already broken the thread of negotiation earlier this year after some clashes at the border of Kashmir, a territory both countries claim as their own.
The SAARC summit failed to address the growing threat posed by religious fundamentalist groups. The ascendance of religious extremism and intolerance is a serious challenge to democracy in the region.
Pluralism and diversity, which are the hallmarks of the region, are under threat from such groups, which often enjoy overt or covert patronage from the state. Women’s rights and other freedoms are the first to be targeted by extremist groups.
The region is fraught with conflicts. Security is diminishing and governments’ militaristic response, far from resolving these conflicts, is undermining the rule of law and increasing insecurity.
The number of conflict-induced internally displaced persons and refugees in the region has spiraled.
People’s rights have deteriorated in recent years, in particular, to freedom of association, freedom of expression, and the right to protest.
