NEW DELHI (IDN) – Though little known and oft despised, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is one of the largest regional organizations in the world spanning India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives and Afghanistan. Together the eight countries are home to one-fourth of the global population.

As SAARC celebrated the 25th anniversary of its founding at the summit meeting in Thimphu on April 28-29, 2010, a comment posted on the web stated: "Apart from the fact that Bhutan will be hosting its first SAARC summit, there is hardly anything that inspires confidence in this largely moribund organization."

The writer added: "Its achievements so far have been so minimal that even its constituents have become lackadaisical in their attitudes towards it. The state of regional cooperation in South Asia can be gleaned from the fact that Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani reached Bhutan via Nepal, using Chinese territory in Tibet rather than the straightforward route through India."

Whatever the reasons that might have motivated Gilani to choose that route, a close look at the Thimphu Silver Jubilee Declaration 'Towards a Green and Happy South Asia' shows that SAARC has made significant advances despite persistent tensions between India and Pakistan – and penetrating inroads China has made in recent years into what has been known as the 'Indian subcontinent' so far, but is already being named the 'Chinese subcontinent'.

Reports said Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal are supporting China's full membership of SAARC. China – along with Japan, South Korea and the U.S. – was accorded an observer status at the 2005 SAARC summit in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a country whose president initiated the grouping. The Thimphu summit also welcomed observers from Australia, Iran, Mauritius, Burma and the European Union.

Undoubtedly, new equations are emerging within South Asia and on the international scene as underlined by IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) summits in Brasilia mid-April.

Against this backdrop, it is not surprising that the declaration emerging from the Thimphu summit, the sixteenth since 1985, emphasizes the need to develop a ‘Vision Statement’. In fact the summit agreed to form a ‘South Asia Forum’ for the generation of debate, discussion and the exchange of ideas on South Asia and its future development.

The Forum will consist of eminent personalities of diverse background including those from all SAARC member states. It would provide inputs, based on a comprehensive understanding, for charting out the future course of SAARC in the medium and long run and recommend, if required, the necessary improvements needed in the existing mechanisms.

"Such a forum could function on public-private partnership lines, and allow for multiple inputs beyond governments into the consideration of the future of SAARC," says the declaration.

The summiteers agreed that the scope and substance of SAARC cooperation had expanded to diverse fields, providing a firm basis for genuine partnership. However, a number of these had not translated into meaningful and tangible benefits to the people.

They, therefore, highlighted the need "for more efficient, focused, time-bound and people-centric activities" and called for appropriate reflection of all the SAARC decisions into the national policies and programmes of member states.

CHARTER OF DEMOCRACY

Taking the soul-searching a step further, they said, "while appreciating that all the member states had evolved into multi-party democracies", they "underlined the challenges faced by them in ensuring effective, efficient, transparent and accountable governments".

In this regard, they emphasized the need for regional cooperation to strengthen good governance through sharing of experiences, best-practices and establishing institutional linkages. They noted the proposal by Bangladesh to convene an inter-governmental meeting in Dhaka on the idea of a SAARC Charter of Democracy on which Bangladesh offered to circulate a Concept Paper.

"The Leaders recognized the need to draw on the democratic and participatory tradition collectively represented by the Parliamentarians of South Asia for the progress of SAARC. In this context, the Leaders recommended the convening of a 'Conclave of SAARC Parliamentarians' in line with the SAARC Charter and directed the SAARC Secretariat (based in Kathmandu) to convene a Working Group, comprising nominees of the member states, to workout the modalities for establishment of such a Conclave."

The summiteers stressed the need for a greater focus to pursue people-centric development with due emphasis on socio-cultural progress and upholding traditions and values and in that regard, noted the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) pursued by Bhutan, inter alia, in ensuring people-centric development, culture, preservation of environment, better governance.

They further noted that other member states might consider Bhutan’s experience with the concept and welcomed the offer to host a SAARC Workshop on GNH in 2010.

The SAARC leaders emphasized the deepening of regional efforts on poverty alleviation, the overarching objective of the regional organization. They called for the expeditious mainstreaming of the SAARC Development Goals (SDGs) in the national processes and completion of the Mid-term Review of the SDGs as scheduled.

They further noted the useful finding and recommendations made by successive regional studies through the Regional Poverty Profiles (RPPs) and directed the relevant SAARC mechanisms to act on them. In this regard, they welcomed the offer of the Government of Nepal to host the Third Ministerial Meeting on Poverty Alleviation in 2011.

CLIMATE CHANGE STATEMENT

A salient outcome of the summit was climate change. The leaders welcomed climate change as the theme for the summit and reaffirmed their commitment to address this challenge. In this context, they adopted the Thimphu Statement on Climate Change and directed that the recommendations contained therein be implemented in earnest.

The leaders noted that while climate change impacted every country, the SAARC member states as developing countries were shouldering a major burden, in spite of having contributed least to the problem.

They emphasized that global negotiations on climate change should be guided by the principles of equity, and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities as enshrined in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and should be conducted in an open, transparent and inclusive manner.

They also underscored the need to initiate the process to formulate a common SAARC position for COP16 in Mexico and thereafter, including on issues such as separate financing for adaptation and mitigation as well as technology transfer. In this regard, they welcomed the offer of Bhutan to host an Inter-governmental Expert Group meeting.

The leaders welcomed the Government of Nepal’s initiative to organize a Ministerial Meeting of Mountainous Countries in Kathmandu later this year.

In pursuance of the recommendation contained in the SAARC Ministerial Statement on Environment on conservation of aquatic ecosystem, trans-boundary bio-diversity zones, automated network of weather stations and regular and systematic sharing of scientific data, the leaders called for focus on water management and conservation and development of cooperative projects at regional level in terms of exchange of best practices and knowledge, capacity building and transfer of eco-friendly technology.

The leaders, deeply concerned by the extent of environmental degradation in the region, reiterated the importance of sustainably managing environment and development through adoption of eco-friendly approaches and technologies and that South Asia should become a world leader in low-carbon technology and renewable energies. They welcomed the signing of the SAARC Convention on Cooperation on Environment and called for its early ratification and implementation.

Concerned by the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, the summit called for effective regional programmes in early warning, preparedness and management including response and rehabilitation while remaining within their respective national laws and procedures. They called for further negotiations and early finalization of the SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters. (IDN-InDepthNews/02.05.2010)