ISLAMABAD, 5 January 2004 — President Pervez Musharraf called on member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to put aside mistrust and political differences in favor of development and cooperation, as leaders of the seven member nations began a three-day summit here yesterday.
“We must put behind us the tarnished legacy of mistrust and tension...we feel there is a need to expand the SAARC charter to even discuss bilateral issues on a regional level,” Musharraf said at a banquet he threw for the attending leaders.
“We owe this to our people, let us make a solemn pledge not to disappoint them,” said Musharraf in what appeared to be a reference to the slow progress SAARC has made since its creation in 1985.
“The bitter truth is that SAARC will never achieve its full potential unless the dispute and tension that draws us apart are resolved peacefully with justice and equality,” Musharraf told the audience, including Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
South Asian Leaders Urge Greater Unity
In his inaugural address Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafrullah Khan Jamali reiterated his country’s commitment to regional cooperation but, in a veiled reference to the country’s simmering tensions with India, underscored the need to resolve mutual disputes.
“It is a stark reality that political differences and disputes have held back the prospect of real economic cooperation in South Asia,” Jamali said.
“We subscribe to the vision of robust and multidimensional cooperation in South Asia, but this could be transformed into reality only if we are able to overcome our differences and disputes and create a climate of political trust and confidence,” said the Pakistani prime minister.
Chandrika Kumaratunga, the president of Sri Lanka, used her opening speech to address Indo-Pakistan differences and said resolving them was a prerequisite for realizing the objectives of regional political and economic cooperation.
“The vision and courage demonstrated recently by the leaders of India and Pakistan in their efforts to resolve bilateral issues have infused this summit as well as the process of SAARC with a renewed sense of purpose and vigor,” Kumaratunga said.
“Our prayers and good wishes will be with you during this historic moment in Indo-Pakistan relations,” the Sri Lankan president added.
The Islamabad summit was originally planned for January 2003 but had to be postponed after India’s refusal to attend due to friction with Pakistan.
Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom called upon SAARC leaders to work for economic development instead of stockpiling weapons.
“Our people need food, not fighter aircraft, books not bombs, magazines not missiles,” said Gayoom, 65, who is the longest-serving leader of Asia.
People need to protect the environment and their rich culture, he said, adding “that is the least they (leaders) can do for their successive generations.”
“South Asia must boost its strength not to fight wars or to maim and kill but to overcome poverty, hunger, disease and despair.”
Nepalese Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa also hailed the ongoing India-Pakistan peace overtures.
“We have been very encouraged by the positive developments that have recently taken place in improving relations between India and Pakistan,” Thapa said in his speech.
“Nepal believes that improvement of relations between India and Pakistan will lead to relaxation of tension and help strengthen the SAARC.”
Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia called upon South Asian nations to devise trade promotion so that it becomes a “win-win situation for all.”
“Trade promotion critically calls for reducing tariffs, dismantling non-tariff barriers and impediments of an institutional and attitudinal nature affecting exports from smaller to larger SAARC countries,” Zia said.
“Trade liberalization should lead to a win-win situation for all. In other words, it needs to be approached with a more open mind.”
Zia said the new trade regime could include “special measures for the least developed countries” like an adequate timeframe for freeing trade; compensatory financing for revenue loss and the concept of early harvest.
“Economies of the South, especially the least developed among them, have been marginalized,” she said.
— Additional input from agencies
