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A summit postponed

THE POSTPONEMENT OF the 12th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which was tentatively scheduled for the second week of January, has once again demonstrated that the leaders of the region are unable or unwilling to conceptualise and work for a future in which a wholesome co-existence would replace the unhealthy confrontation of the present. While Islamabad did contribute to this unfortunate development through its tardiness in implementing key economic and trade measures, New Delhi must take most of the blame for failing to preserve the principle that summit-level meetings of the SAARC must be held on a regular basis — irrespective of progress on specific matters — so that the institution's life is sustained. In normal circumstances, summit meetings that produce little can be the subject of ridicule, but not so in the South Asian context where relations inter se are usually so poisonous that even gestures of friendliness are of inestimable value. Try though it might, the current political leadership in New Delhi cannot escape censure for its subversion of the rule, that bilateral issues should not intrude into the SAARC forum, through its refusal to engage Islamabad even at this multilateral level on the grounds that Pakistan had not put an end to cross-border terrorism. This is a rule that India had firmly stood by in the past and it was not that long ago — after the informal meeting of SAARC Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session — that New Delhi had reiterated its resolve to insulate the institutionalised regional discussions from bilateral tensions.

After vacillating on the question of whether or not the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, would travel to Islamabad, New Delhi has noted with a touch of smugness that it was Pakistan that had ultimately taken the decision to defer the summit. With India having failed to confirm the dates on which it would have been convenient for the Prime Minister to attend the summit the hosts just did not have the lead time of a month to make the necessary arrangements. Neither had New Delhi openly spelt out the reasons behind its hesitancy over attending the summit. For a good part of the time leading up to the summit New Delhi attributed its reluctance to attend to the lack of progress on the South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) and the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). However, Mr. Vajpayee let the cat out of the bag a few days ago when he stated that he would not go to Islamabad so long as Pakistan did not put an end to cross-border terrorism. These considerations aside, New Delhi did not want to embarrass itself by allowing its High Commissioner to take station in Islamabad or by requesting Pakistan to permit Mr. Vajpayee to fly by the direct route. Since India has done little to resolve these issues they cannot really be cited as excuses.

The postponement of the summit has occurred at a time when there were indications that progress was being made at the official level talks on a draft treaty framework for SAFTA. While it is unlikely that the draft would have been ready by the second week of January it would not appear unreasonable to presume that the political leadership of the South Asian countries, through their collective deliberations, could have added impetus to the finalisation of the treaty. The fact that lack of agreement over dates has been cited as the reason for the postponement does, technically speaking, leave open the possibility that a summit might indeed be held a few months down the line. Hopefully, all the parties involved will soon realise by that time that enhanced trade, and the multi-layered contacts that will spring up in its wake, could lead to a lessening of the tension that casts a shadow on the full potential of South Asia's development.

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