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| SAARC summit witnesses guarded silence on terror | | Indian PM for end of terrorism in South Asia | |
BL KAK
NEW DELHI, Apr 3
Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has urged the SAARC nations to implement in a "meaningful and sincere manner the commitments and pledges to root out terrorism" in South Asia so as to create the atmosphere in which "our endeavours can succeed". In his address to the SAARC nations at the 14th summit that opened in New Delhi on Tuesday, Manmohan Singh asserted: "A primary requirement for the fulfillment of our vision of p[rosperity and cooperation in South Asia is peace".
The summit, significantly, saw a rather understated reference to terrorism by the Indian Prime Minister. There was a matching response from his Pakistani counterpart, Shaukat Aziz, who never mentioned Kashmir at all. He said differences between SAARC countries needed to be resolved through dialogue and compromise to promote an environment of genuine peace and security in South Asia.
Aziz urged SAARC nations to leverage their strength and overcome common challenges. He also proposed a five-point roadmap to promote genuine peace and security in the South Asian region. He further pointed out that political environment in the region has held back the growth of SAARC. While stating that SAARC must be made goal oriented, Aziz added: "We need to move from debate and deliberations towards concrete action".
But Afghan President Hamid Karzai, without naming Pakistan, slammed it for supporting terrorism: "Terrorism should be eradicated in all forms, including political sponsorship and financing", he said. Afghanistan, which was so far enjoying the status of a special invitee, was formally inducted as the 8th member of the regional grouping after all the Heads of State and Governments signed a declaration to this effect. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, welcomed Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and said that India was proud that Afghanistan was attending its first SAARC Summit as a full member.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, called for an anti-terror mechanism within SAARC. "Terrorism anywhere is terrorism. No country can flourish without addressing and eradicating terrorism. It is a global menace", Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, said. Referring to menace of terrorism, the Sri Lankan President said that the recent air attack at Katunayake by the LTTE must attract attention of the SAARC leaders.
Bangladesh, on its part, asked for addressing the security concerns of SAARC members. ''It would be impossible to realise our dream of a prosperous South Asia without addressing the security concerns of regional countries'', Bangladesh Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the opening of the two-day meet, Manmohan Singh said that South Asia was in the midst of an "unprecedented" economic and political transformation and governments of the region were working together to address the issues. "The political transformation is painful. Each one of us has to work out for ourselves and within our countries and between our governments", the Prime Minister said.
Trade, connectivity and actionable plans — especially trade — appeared to be the shared view of the SAARC nations. ''As an immediate step, India is announcing a unilateral liberalisation of visas for students, teachers, professors, journalists and patients from SAARC. Let us aim to double the intra-SAARC flow of tourists in the next five years", announced Manmohan Singh. He also spoke of setting up a South Asia University that will take in students from the member nations in an effort to increase cultural convergence.
"Our agreement to establish a South Asia University, as a world-class institution of learning, will be an important symbol of the connectivity of ideas and of our youth that would build the knowledge economy of the future," the Prime Minister said. He said South Asia stood at a moment of opportunity. "It was once said that positive expectations have a way to leading to positive outcomes. I believe that the time has come for SAARC to show that this is so. Let us work together to make it so", he added.
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