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South Asian leaders call for increased cooperation

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, left, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh look on at the inauguration of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in Dhaka, Bangladesh, yesterday. PHOTO: AP

South Asian leaders, holding a summit in the Bangladeshi capital yesterday, acknowledged their regional forum has achieved little in 20 years and needed to be overhauled.

The 13th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is also being held in the shadow of a blunt warning by India that failed states could emerge in the region, one of the poorest in the world

"The honest answer is that regional economic cooperation in South Asia has fallen far short of our expectations," Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.

"We cannot be the crossroads of Asia but remain disconnected within our own region," he added.

The SAARC includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives -- a region which is home to 1.5 billion people, about a third of whom live in poverty.

India has about 70 percent of SAARC's people, wealth and land area. But its differences with other members, notably Pakistan, have hurt any effectiveness the group might have had.

"Factors affecting effective regional cooperation are mindsets and perceptions emanating from the past," said Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

She said the group had to look beyond rifts among members and move toward economic cooperation, even without political progress.

SAARC was formed in 1985, but its aim of bringing regional prosperity through cooperation has failed to get off the ground. It has taken few multilateral initiatives, and many of its summits have been postponed, at times for years, because of discord among members.

On Friday, shortly before leaving for Dhaka, Singh made an unusually blunt criticism of security in South Asia.

"The danger of a number of failed states emerging in our neighborhood has far-reaching consequences for our region and our people," he said.

"We see signs of the ills of disaffection, alienation and conflict not only in India, but also across our neighborhood," he said.

Singh did not refer to a specific country, but much of Nepal is in the grip of Maoist rebels while both Pakistan and Bangladesh have been fighting Islamic militancy.

The South Asian leaders are expected to sign agreements on setting up a disaster management center in India and are also likely to put the finishing touches to an earlier decision to set up a free trade area in SAARC from next year.

Also on the agenda this year are proposals to allow Afghanistan to join as a member and give China observer status.
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