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| Pranab urges SAARC regions to 'walk on both legs' | | |
New Delhi, March 19 : South Asian countries must "walk on both legs" by ending their political disparities and enhancing economic cooperation to realise the objectives of SAARC, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
"In the subcontinent, we must begin to walk on both legs - simultaneously resolving political differences and expanding economic integration," Mukherjee said in his inaugural address at a seminar Monday here.
The seminar on 'Economic Cooperation in SAARC: SAFTA and Beyond' has been organised by the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS).
The remark by the minister comes at a time when India is preparing to host the 14th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit here from April 3-4. "India remains fully committed to the SAARC process," Mukherjee told the delegates.
Highlighting the need to reduce poverty, which acts as one of the prime deterrents in the economic growth of the region, he said: "There is today the real prospect of ending economic poverty in the SAARC region in our own lifetime.
"The poverty trap that engulfed South Asia for so long also tended to limit our imagination in the past about the possibilities for growing together in the region."
Urging "positive and concrete action" by the South Asian region, he said: "We need to discuss ways to upgrade regional economic cooperation, including SAFTA (South Asia Free Trade Agreement)."
"Letting these opportunities pass us by will only lead to our region falling further behind, while the rest of an increasingly integrating world economy marches ahead," he told the seminar attended by diplomats, academicians and various think tanks.
Mukherjee said: "It is a matter of concern that while countries in South Asia are integrating with the global economy, they remain less integrated among themselves."
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