Its ambition to become a member of Security Council, NSG to receive a shock
Islamabad
In its bid to “isolate” Pakistan globally, as angrily vowed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India by boycotting the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) conference scheduled to be held in November in Islamabad has presented itself as a major stumbling block in regional peace, peace and cooperative relationship.
Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal, the current chair of the regional grouping, are unlikely to share Indian vengeance. However, with the Saarc process based on consensus, even if one member state does not attend the summit is automatically postponed or cancelled.
On New Delhi’s instigation, Bangladesh, the original initiator of the Saarc process, has formally pulled out of the summit. Afghanistan and Bhutan also did so on Indian prodding.
India presented the Uri attack as an excuse to refrain from the summit, accusing Pakistan of the assault. But Bangladesh has no reason or cause to boycott except dancing to New Delhi’s tunes with its prime minister spewing the traditional venom at Pakistan. Afghanistan’s decision is also absolutely akin to Bangladesh’s.
Even without obliging India, it was even otherwise very difficult for Prime Minister Hasina Wajid to attend the summit because of the revenge she is taking by hanging top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders. Certainly, she would have faced angry demonstrations especially by the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan had she come here. Pakistan has officially condemned these executions.
The Indian media speculated quoting an unnamed diplomatic source in Kathmandu on Wednesday that the conference will be cancelled. The change of venue may also be discussed but Pakistan is unlikely to agree to it.
Although the Saarc comprises eight members, its annual summits, attended by the heads of government or State, are always dominated by the meetings between the top leaders of Pakistan and India on the sidelines of these conferences.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has the distinction of representing Pakistan in such Saarc summits for a number of times. An essential part of his participation had been his meetings with his different Indian counterparts in which the focus had always been on bilateral relations particularly the Kashmir dispute.
Such sessions mostly helped ease tensions between the traditional South Asian rivals. At times, these deliberations paved the way for initiation of further dialogue between the two countries at various levels.
By boycotting the summit and prevailing upon some Saarc members to stay away from it, the Indian prime minister has exposed his mindset to torpedo even the weak regional forums. Once again, the world has seen the real face of a country that has ambitions and is lobbying hard to become member of the UN Security Council and Nuclear Suppliers Group. Definitely, a state that is behaving like a regional bully against other Saarc members doesn’t qualify to be given membership of any elite international club.
Although Pakistan faces loss of face because of the possible cancellation of the summit, India’s image at the global level is also badly hurt for rocking a regional spineless forum.
Regardless of Bangladesh’s boycott of the summit, Dhaka already has very tense relations with Islamabad. Same is the case with Afghanistan with President Ashraf Ghani struggling at home against his political opponents. Therefore, the boycott of Bangladesh and Afghanistan of the Saarc meeting will hardly mar their relations with Pakistan further.
Since its founding in Dhaka in 1985, the Saarc has never served as an effective organisation where bilateral disputes can’t be raised as per its charter. However, it comprises 3% of the world’s area, 21% of global population and 9.12% of the world economy, as of 2015. It is meant to promote development of economical and regional integration. It launched the South Asian Free Trade Area in 2006. The Saarc maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the United Nation as an observer and has developed links with multilateral entities, including the European Union.
