South Asia has a common destiny
WHAT Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at Chandigarh on Wednesday deserves to be accepted as a vision document for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), scheduled to begin its much-awaited meeting in Dhaka tomorrow. In his view, the idea behind SAARC can become a reality once all the countries of the region accept that being in a single geographical area, they have a common destiny. They are faced with the common challenges posed by poverty, disease, natural disasters and terrorism. They must adopt an approach based on inter-dependence for “collective security” and “collective prosperity”.
The truth is that SAARC came into being mainly because of a collective urge for making use of the growth potentials of the region by functioning as an economic bloc. The ultimate objective was to evolve into an economic union on the pattern of the European Union or the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). However, the progress towards that laudable goal has been very slow because of several problems bequeathed by history. The problems are not insurmountable provided there is the honesty of purpose and the will to tackle them, howsoever difficult these may be. After all, South Asia has never been the initiator of world wars, as is true about Europe, which now has the European Union — an idea nurtured by statesmanship and patient pursuit of a common European goal.
As Dr Manmohan Singh has pointed out, SAARC has, no doubt, started moving towards an economic union with the agreement over the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), to be implemented in 2006. The next steps can be an accord over a SAARC investment area and a customs union. But these should lead to better physical connectivity in the near future by having SAARC communication networks like roadways, railways, shipping lines and airlines. There is no dearth of natural and human resources in the region. The SAARC countries must give top priority to building bridges of economic growth together. Future generations will never forgive the leadership of today if it fails to reap the advantages provided by geography. It should not lose time, which is of essence for the well-being of one-fifth of humanity.
