Discharging his responsibilities as Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Manmohan Singh told the Saarc Business Leaders' Conclave on Thursday that if terrorism was not rooted out from the subcontinent, it would be difficult to attract investors to the Saarc countries.
The conclave has been organised jointly by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and the Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).
"To imagine that any one of us can pursue what economists call 'beggar-thy-neighbour' policies and thereby prosper is to delude oneself," Singh said, adding the Saarc business community had a vital stake in regional security and victory in the war against terror.
"We must join hands to put our collective house in order as peace in the region will benefit all. Terrorism anywhere will hurt us all," he said.
The prime minister said the consequences of both poverty and insecurity were indivisible in an interconnected region and a globalised world, making it clear that Pakistan -- or any other nation -- had nothing to gain from abetting terrorism.
The prime minister clearly wanted to leverage business instincts of corporates from the Saarc nations and use them as pressure points to take this message to their respective regimes. He underscored the importance of private sector participation in bringing about greater synergy within the Saarc business community.
The prime minister stressed the need to increase interlinkages in the Saarc community at all levels and exhorted business leaders to do their bit by increasing intra-regional investment.
"Our businessmen must give priority to private sector cooperation in areas such as power generation, research and development in science and technology, and services like health care, education, information technology and insurance," he said.
The prime minister lamented that while intra-EU exports were 55.2 per cent, intra-Nafta exports were 51.7 per cent and intra-Asean exports were 20.4 per cent, intra-Saarc exports were a mere 5 per cent of the total exports of the region.
"We must focus on more concrete, collaborative and implementable projects," he said, underlining the rationale for implementing the Safta.