The Way I See It
Can SAARC become a vibrant regional organisation?

Can SAARC become a vibrant regional organisation?

If Pakistan and India pursue good ties, SAARC can turn into a platform for seeking solutions to regional problems.

Zahid Gishkori January 03, 2013

I tried to find the answer to a question at a South Asian Association Regional Cooperation (SAARC) conference recently held in Islamabad.

After meeting representatives of Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the Maldives, I can say that yes, SAARC can be an effective regional organisation.

But its bright future depends upon good relations between the two nuclear neighbours - India and Pakistan.

In my opinion, if Pakistan and India pursue good ties, keeping in view long-standing trade relations, then SAARC can turn into a mega platform for seeking solutions to regional problems.

Being a representative of Pakistan at the SAARC media fellowship, I observed that SAARC’s economic, social and political viability has been questioned for decades only because of the decades-old hostility between New Delhi and Islamabad.

My purpose is not to blame New Delhi or Islamabad in this regard but only to suggest to these two neighbours that this is the prime time for both to proceed with business relations, especially in the aftermath of the new visa agreement.

I noticed that the representatives of SAARC Information Centre took a baby step towards fostering cooperation among the SAARC states. They (the participants) decided to promote their cultures through short documentaries, which appear to be a pioneer step taken by SAARC Information Centre (SIC).

An important question arises here that if SIC, a small department of SAARC can take small but a positive step then why not the top leadership of SAARC?

In a nutshell, I think that SAARC states, with effort of Pakistan and India, can press for greater political and economic integration, similar to the European Union or the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Cessation of hostilities is a must.

Read more by Zahid here, or follow him on Twitter @ZahidGishkori

WRITTEN BY:
Zahid Gishkori

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (10)

Gratgy | 11 years ago | Reply @Anti-India The Indian are biggest Hippocratic We all take the Hippocratic Oath when we are born. Lol!

Democracy | 11 years ago | Reply @ Anti-indian- indians are not hypocrite or something , if you hate us ,its your opinion and i respect that so leave it. India is vibrant 3rd largest economy of the Asia so it needs more prosperous nation Viz. european union and US . i fear not pakistan what we should trade with you people. i dunt find any technology or path breaking stufs from pakistan .with 70 percent of your economy is black indians might fear about your skill of handling business. India future lies with prosperous ties with china, japan ASEAN .. PAKISTAN are u kiddin me :)

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Indian | 11 years ago | Reply @Anti Indian: I don't know if it is worth responding to your hate-filled comment, but I suggest you take a look in your own yard where heaps of garbage have piled up. That is Pakistan at its best -- at its worst, Pakistan is a pariah nation with no respect. In fact, one of the biggest obstacles to SAARC's progress has been Pakistani terrorism and religious extremism, both of which have put the clock back by decades. India has a huge fan following worldwide; if you understand and follow politics -- not just the intricacies of world affairs, which may be beyond your comprehension -- but even regional politics, you could not possibly have missed the recent summit in Delhi between India and the ASEAN group (this is a thriving Southeast Asian group of 10 member states that want closer ties with India). Indeed, some Southeast Asian experts have even suggested that ASEAN should be expanded to include South Asia (minus Pakistan becuse it is a liability and an obstacle to progress) and be inflated to ASESAN. Well, should I say more to you? But please get rid of your nauseating habit of always blaming others for your own home-made misery. If you do not have introspection, you can NEVER progress, no matter what the world and, particularly, Uncle Sam does for you.

MAP | 11 years ago | Reply Expel India from SAARC, get China in. That's the way forward.

Halal Pork | 11 years ago | Reply @Anti Indian: Why only PANIPUT, why not CUSHMIR or CURACHEE?

Anti Indian | 11 years ago | Reply The Indian are biggest Hippocratic. On one hand they ask to increase trade. but on the other other side they export defective drugs to Pakistan. The Indians are true enemy of Pakistan and we the Pakistanis are always to fight India at any time , at ant place particularly at "PANIPUT".

BlackJack | 11 years ago | Reply India is large enough to make it a magnet for most SAARC countries from both an investment as well as market perspective, and is perfectly happy with separate bilateral agreements with individual members; none of the other SAARC countries have significant trade with each other as they mostly share land/ maritime borders only with India (excluding Afghanistan) - SAARC is therefore a very different grouping from, say, ASEAN. Meanwhile Pakistan dithers on even reciprocating with MFN status to India 16 years being granted the same. If you cannot even make a bilateral economic relationship work, how do you expect to make SAARC a vibrant platform. This does not mean that trade within the region cannot increase, but it is highly unlikely to be built around SAARC , which Pakistan only treats as yet another forum to talk about Kashmir even when no one wants to listen.

Parvez | 11 years ago | Reply With the present mindset in both countries naothing can or will happen. Both are at fault and both are unable to realise this, let alone do something about it.

Sinclair | 11 years ago | Reply Oh no you didnt! No union will ever happen in Saarc. India will not allow it. If the price for a well functioning Saarc is to give in to the daily blackmail of Pakistan, let Saarc die too. Much good it will do.

amit | 11 years ago | Reply why not pakistan try with their muslim brother countries because other south asian countries their culture is very much indic why are u so insecure when u talk about indo-pak .and u are wrong in saarc coutries india is in center without india saarc is irrelvant and india is only major emerging economy(BRIC) in saarc and second is pak or bangladesh their economy is more than 8.5X smaller than india .

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