ELECTIONS '98
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SAARC rejects Pak proposal

The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation today emphatically rejected Pakistan's proposal to involve the regional grouping in settling local conflicts and unequivocally declared that stability, peace and security in south Asia could not be considered in isolation of the global security environment.

In a 23-page ''Colombo declaration'' adopted at the end of their three-day tenth summit, the leaders of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka underscored their commitment to the complete elimination of nuclear weapons and the need for promoting nuclear disarmament on a universal basis.

Making a reference to the recent nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, the declaration said the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, to which some SAARC members were signatories, had not led to any progress towards nuclear disarmanent for prevented proliferation.

It called upon all nuclear weapons states, whether party or non-party to the NPT, to engage constructively through a transparent and credible process of negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament.

The SAARC leaders recognised that the member states and the people of the region continued to face the serious threat of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and drug trafficking. They reiterated their firm commitment to combat these activities in the region.

Dealing at length with economic issues, the declaration said the SAARC leaders expressed their abhorrence over the practice of imposition of unilateral coercive measures as an instrument of policy against developing nations. They called for their immediate cessation.

They stressed the need for more efficient capacity-building to enable informed decision-making in these areas to enable innovative collective intervention to safeguard South Asian interests in international negotiations, as well as to develop some edge for effective leverage in such negotiations.

The SAARC leaders decided to take urgent measures to remove structural impediments in order to move speedily towards the goal of achieving a South Asian Free Trade Area by 2001, as mandated by the ninth SAARC summit in Male. To this end, they decided that a committee of experts be constituted in consultation with member states with specific terms of reference to work on drafting a comprehensive treaty regime for creating a free trade area.

The leaders expressed the view that such a treaty must incorporate binding time-frames for freeing trade, measures to facilitate trade and provisions to ensure equitable distribution of benefits of trade to all states, especially the smaller ones and the least developed countries. They emphasised the importance of finalising the text of the regulatory framework by 2001.

The SAARC leaders noted with concern the implications of the global economic developments on the economies of South Asia and other developing countries.

The challenges and opportunities inherent in these fast evolving developments could best be met and the full potential of South Asia realised through effective practical regional and bilateral co-operation among members states, the leaders of the seven nations said.

The declaration said the leaders decided that their countries would endeavour to co-ordinate their decisions on international economic issues at multilateral forums like the WTO in areas of common concern so as to protect and promote the interests of the developing countries.

They stressed the need for collective strategies to promote a rule-based, non-discriminatory and equitable trading system in which the interests and concerns of developing countries would be fully safeguarded.

On the political side, the SAARC leaders reiterated their commitment to the promotion of mutual trust and understanding. They recognised that the aims of promoting peace, stability, and amity, and accelerated socio-economic co-operation could best be achieved by fostering good neighbourly relations, relieving tensions and building confidence. In this regard, they agreed that the process of informal political consultations would prove useful.

On sub-regional co-operation, the SAARC felt the member countries should encourage the development of specific projects relevant to the individual needs of three or more member states.

Referring to terrorism, the declaration said the SAARC leaders urged all member states to enhance co-operation against the menace, wherever, by whomever, against whoever it occurred and to fully observe and implement the SAARC regional convention on terrorism. They affirmed that criminal acts intended to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons, for whatever purposes, were unjutifiable in any circumstances.

They called for international action to prevent the abuse of refugee conventions and to halt the activities which helped terrorist groups to collect funds for their activities.

The leaders expressed serious concern over the severe distortions produced by the process of unrestrained globalisation as has been evidenced in the downturn of economies of several Asian states. The challenges and opportunities inherent in these fast-evolving developments could best be met and the full potential of south Asian realised through effective practical regional and bilateral co-operation among members states.

They noted that the benefits of the so-described ''liberalisation'' have been disappointingly asymmetrical with the process proceeding at much slower pace in areas of special interest to developing countries. Increased opportunities in trade and investment have bypassed many developing countries. The least developed countries have in particular been marginalised through a series of developments including the shrinking of concessional and other financial flows to these countries.

The heads of state or government observed that following the WTO ministerial conference in Geneva, a process has been initiated at the WTO where implementation issues, built-in agenda issues, issues arising out of the WTO ministerial conference and other multi-lateral trade issues will be considered with a view to making recommendations to the next ministerial conference of the WTO in 1999. These issues and the decisions arising from this process will have far-reaching consequences for our development strategies and prospects.

The leaders expressed concern about the erection of protectionist barriers and the tendency to impose arbitrary ''norms'' relating to labour conditions, environmental regulations, governance and other extraneous issues to regulate trade exchanges, which would amount to additional non-tariff barriers that would have the effect of restricting market access for developing countries including preferential access to least developed countries into markets of developed countries. They agreed on the need for collective strategies to promote a rule-based, non-discriminatory and equitable international trading system in which the interests and concerns of developing countries would be fully safeguarded and served.

They expressed their concern about the shortcomings of the international monetary and financial system, and its tardiness in anticipating impending financial market crisis sufficiently in advance, so that pre-emptive remedial action be adopted. They noted that the problem is systemic, and not unique to Asia, nor confined to emerging economies, and that it can have global ramifications, unless more fundamental reforms are put in place.

On accelerating economic co-operation, the heads of state assessed the progress made in the two rounds of negotiations already undertaken under SAPTA. They decided that the third round should be concluded well before the 21st session of the council of ministers.

The heads of state or government noted that the SAARC environment ministers would be meeting in Sri Lanka in late 1998. They urged that the ministers should at this meeting also mandate any specific measures required for SAARC to further strengthen co-operation on environment issues, with other international or regional organisations engaged in the same field.

UNI

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