The Saarc scene

The 19th Saarc summit has been cancelled after India decided to boycott the summit set for November in Islamabad. After Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan joined the Indian boycott, Nepal has announced that the summit will now be postponed. Afghanistan’s boycott is hardly a surprise, both because of its close relationship with India and its ‘tendency’ to level similar allegations about Pakistani sponsorship of terrorism. Bhutan and Bangladesh put out vague statements noting that the ‘environment was not conducive’ for a Saarc summit. Bangladesh is currently not on very good terms with Pakistan and accuses us of interfering in its internal affairs for opposing its policy to kill elderly Jamaat-e-Islami leaders. Bhutan receives nearly a billion dollars a year in foreign aid from India, making it the largest recipient of Indian aid, so it has naturally followed India’s lead. The military and financial muscle of India speaking louder than our words is not much of a surprise when it can threaten to cut off aid or block trade. The real victim of India’s diplomatic amateurism is Saarc itself. In choosing to boycott the summit, India knew that it was effectively cancelling the summit.

It is a bit ironic that all of the boycotting countries claim to be committed to Saarc. How can the countries that make up South Asia remain committed to regional peace and cooperation if they are not ready to meet to discuss any outstanding issues between each other? A regional body could only become effective if Pakistan and India were able to discuss and resolve their outstanding issues. Saarc would in fact be an appropriate forum to take up the Kashmir issue amongst others. Instead of using this opportunity to make Saarc a truly functional body, India has only confirmed that Saarc is an ineffective body which can only be used for symbolism. The boycott only makes it even more unlikely that Saarc can ever bear fruit. Even though it is hard for smaller countries to resist India’s bullying tactics, the stillborn Saarc summit should also lead us to reflect on our own foreign policy. Within Pakistan, there is a need to take account of the situation beyond rhetoric and tit-for-tat jingoism. Even though the impact of the pull out may be minimal, it is clear that Pakistan is in regional political isolation. A breakthrough is needed which can put us in a better position than now whenever India decides to flex its muscles.