SAARC yet to be fully effective in 3 decades

Three decades into its inception, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is yet to be fully effective and able to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the people of the region mainly due to the lack of trust and seriousness among the member countries.
Lack of political will and understanding among the members are also to blame for the ineffectiveness and failure of the regional organisation, foreign ministry officials and experts told The Independent yesterday.
Some 29 agreements and conventions were signed under the SAARC umbrella in last 30 years, but the implementation of these deals and convention can hardly be noticed, they said, adding that even after three decades, functions of the regional body are not visible to the people of the region.
On December 8, 1985, in Dhaka, the SAARC was initiated through adoption and signing of the SAARC Charter by seven countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In 2007, Afghanistan became the eighth member of the organisation. Aside from the eight members, the organisation has nine observers -- Australia, China, European Union, Iran, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea and the United States.      
According to officials and experts, after three decades of its existence, the SAARC needs to change with the time and be more effective and visible.
They are also of the opinion that the organisation needs to engage itself in result-oriented programmes, projects and activities, and to contribute significantly to the development of the people of the region.  
“One cannot be blamed for saying that the SAARC is not successful even after 30 years.
There are many reasons like lack of political will, understanding and seriousness, and mistrust among the member nations,” said a foreign ministry official.
“If you take into consideration today’s bilateral relations between the member states, you will see strained relations between Nepal and India, tension between the Maldives and India and continuous problems in the relationship between two largest members – India and Pakistan,” he said.
“The relationship between Bangladesh and Pakistan is also at low level. Afghanistan and Pakistan also have problems in their relationship,” said the official.
“You cannot expect healthy multilateral relations with strained bilateral ties,” he added.
Mentioning the objectives of the SAARC Charter, another official said, “It is true that we are still far from materialising the objectives of the Charter.”
The objectives of the Charter include promoting the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and improving their quality of life, accelerating economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and providing all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realise their full potentials, promoting and strengthening collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia and contributing to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another’s problems.

Referring to the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in November, 2014, the official said, “We were supposed to sign three agreements during that summit. But, due to Pakistan’s objection we could manage to sign only one. Even after one year, there is no development with regards to the deals that were supposed to be signed and the deal that was signed.”
The SAARC will remain ineffective and non-functional if there is no proper and timely follow-up of the events, he said, adding that in order to make it a dynamic body there have to be collective efforts and strong political will among the member states.
When asked to mention the positive aspects of the regional body, the official said that SAARC provides an informal space to reduce tension and mistrust among the member states.
“This is very significant. Sometimes, it is not possible bilaterally,” he said.
The official also said that the 29 SAARC legal instruments could have been a great achievement if those could be implemented.
Ambassador Humayun Kabir, former Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, said SAARC could not be fully effective yet due to conceptual deficiencies as well as institutional deficiencies.
He also said, “In our outlook, we are yet to elevate ourselves from national level to regional level. That’s another reason.”
Ambassador Kabir laid emphasis on enhancing the capacity of the SAARC Secretariat and said, “It could not be made feasible to people of the region and for most people it remains a bureaucratic organisation.”
“There is also no common SAARC project to demonstrate the visibility of SAARC,” he said.
But, the former diplomat hastened to add, “It is still the only vehicle available for regional cooperation in South Asia.”

 

 

 

SAARC yet to be fully effective in 3 decades

Three decades into its inception, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is yet to be fully effective and able to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the people of the region mainly due to the lack of trust and seriousness among the member countries. Lack of political will and understanding among the members are also to blame for the ineffectiveness and failure of the regional organisation, foreign ministry officials and experts told The Independent yesterday. Some 29 agreements and conventions were signed under the SAARC umbrella in last 30 years, but the implementation of these deals and convention can hardly be noticed, they said, adding that even after three decades, functions of the regional body are not visible to the people of the region. On December 8, 1985, in Dhaka, the SAARC was initiated through adoption and signing of the SAARC Charter by seven countries Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In 2007, Afghanistan became the eighth member of the organisation. Aside from the eight members, the organisation has nine observers -- Australia, China, European Union, Iran, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea and the United States. According to officials and experts, after three decades of its existence, the SAARC needs to change with the time and be more effective and visible. They are also of the opinion that the organisation needs to engage itself in result-oriented programmes, projects and activities, and to contribute significantly to the development of the people of the region. One cannot be blamed for saying that the SAARC is not successful even after 30 years. There are many reasons like lack of political will, understanding and seriousness, and mistrust among the member nations, said a foreign ministry official. If you take into consideration todays bilateral relations between the member states, you will see strained relations between Nepal and India, tension between the Maldives and India and continuous problems in the relationship between two largest members India and Pakistan, he said. The relationship between Bangladesh and Pakistan is also at low level. Afghanistan and Pakistan also have problems in their relationship, said the official. You cannot expect healthy multilateral relations with strained bilateral ties, he added. Mentioning the objectives of the SAARC Charter, another official said, It is true that we are still far from materialising the objectives of the Charter. The objectives of the Charter include promoting the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and improving their quality of life, accelerating economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and providing all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realise their full potentials, promoting and strengthening collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia and contributing to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one anothers problems. Referring to the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in November, 2014, the official said, We were supposed to sign three agreements during that summit. But, due to Pakistans objection we could manage to sign only one. Even after one year, there is no development with regards to the deals that were supposed to be signed and the deal that was signed. The SAARC will remain ineffective and non-functional if there is no proper and timely follow-up of the events, he said, adding that in order to make it a dynamic body there have to be collective efforts and strong political will among the member states. When asked to mention the positive aspects of the regional body, the official said that SAARC provides an informal space to reduce tension and mistrust among the member states. This is very significant. Sometimes, it is not possible bilaterally, he said. The official also said that the 29 SAARC legal instruments could have been a great achievement if those could be implemented. Ambassador Humayun Kabir, former Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, said SAARC could not be fully effective yet due to conceptual deficiencies as well as institutional deficiencies. He also said, In our outlook, we are yet to elevate ourselves from national level to regional level. Thats another reason. Ambassador Kabir laid emphasis on enhancing the capacity of the SAARC Secretariat and said, It could not be made feasible to people of the region and for most people it remains a bureaucratic organisation. There is also no common SAARC project to demonstrate the visibility of SAARC, he said. But, the former diplomat hastened to add, It is still the only vehicle available for regional cooperation in South Asia.