DHAKA: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday proposed that all South Asian countries provide reciprocal transit facilities to connect one another, as well as third countries in the Gulf, Central Asia and South-East Asia.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 13th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit, Dr. Singh also offered all the SAARC neighbours the facility of daily air services to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata on a reciprocal basis.

In line with an offer made to the Association of South-East Asian Nations some years ago, designated SAARC airlines could start as many services as they wanted to 18 other destinations across India.

The Prime Minister proposed the creation of a centre of excellence — a South Asian University — which could provide world-class facilities to students in the region. While India was willing to host such an institution, it was also prepared to locate it in another country.

Addressing his first SAARC summit, Dr. Singh called for the establishment of a regional food bank to which all member countries would contribute. This could be used to meet shortages and losses caused by natural calamities in any SAARC nation.

Asian resurgence

Pointing to an Asian resurgence indicated by what was happening in East and South-East Asia, he felt that the world was witnessing the rebuilding of the pre-colonial arteries of trade and commerce.

"My question is: Is SAARC prepared to be an emerging part of this emerging Asian resurgence or is it content to remain marginalised at its periphery? If our region wants to be part of a dynamic Asia, which is emerging in our neighbourhood, then we must act, and act speedily."

Stressing that SAARC could not be the "crossroads" of Asia while remaining disconnected within the region, Dr. Singh said: "Ancient roads crisscross the subcontinent and link up with the seaports that were the gateways to the rest of the world. Our rivers form the waterways over which people and cargo travelled across the region."

"If we wish the next 20 years of SAARC to be different, we should take the first decision to reconnect the countries of the subcontinent, on the one hand, and then reconnect the subcontinent to the larger Asian neighbourhood, on the other.

"We need to recharge and regenerate the arteries of transport and communication that bind us together and, in turn, link our region to the rest of Asia to reclaim the prosperity that is undoubtedly our due."

In the run-up to the next SAARC summit, he offered to hold a South Asian car rally, which would symbolise regional identity and draw attention to the urgent need to improve the transport infrastructure in member nations.

The Prime Minister made it clear that more liberal movement of peoples and goods across borders also required a greater sensitivity on the part of all SAARC members to pressing concerns.

Cross-border terrorism

"No member country should allow its territory to be used against the interests of another member country. There should be zero tolerance for cross-border terrorism and for the harbouring of hostile insurgent groups and criminal elements.

"It is only in an environment of mutual confidence and a collective commitment against the scourge of terrorism that we can register the progress we desire in more intense interaction," he said.

Dr. Singh regretted that no member had put forward a project proposal to use the $100-million poverty alleviation fund suggested by India at the last SAARC summit in Islamabad in January 2004.

To set out a road map for the creation of a South Asian Economic Union by 2020, the Prime Minister referred to India's proposal for establishing a SAARC High Economic Council, which could promote initiatives in economic, trade, finance and monetary areas with a view to promoting regional economic integration.

The Prime Minister was "glad" that India's offer to host a SAARC Centre for Disaster Preparedness had been accepted by member countries in the wake of last year's tsunami and the October 8 earthquake.

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