Daily Times

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s (SAARC) Home Ministers’ Conference being held in Islamabad has turned into a controversial affair as the Bangladeshi Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal is not participating in the summit. Instead, Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Pakistan, Tariq Ahsan, Deputy Secretary Home Affairs, and two other officials would attend the summit. Relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh have been strained ever since the Bangladeshi government started trials of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders for war crimes committed during the war of secession of 1971. While Pakistan should raise points on humanitarian grounds and condemn the actions of Bangladeshi government if necessary, it must also be realised that Bangladesh is a sovereign country, and repeatedly passing resolutions on its affairs not only leads to them falling on deaf ears but it also results in more friction and worsening of relations between the two countries.

However, the eyes of the world are on how Pakistan and India use the opportunity of the home ministers conference to reduce tensions and start a process of dialogue. The statement of the Indian ministry of external affairs ruling out the possibility of Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh meeting with his Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of the conference is lamentable at the very least, and it would only serve to heighten animosity and restrict the much-needed initiation of dialogue between Pakistan and India. The self-defeating attitude of both states needs to be done away with as they appear to be unwilling to engage with each other on their issues. Pakistan’s insistence to talk about Kashmir is met with Indian intransigence to keep Kashmir out of the dialogue process, while Pakistan’s reluctance to talk about Mumbai attacks and a refusal to entertain India’s security concerns is seen by India as an act of belligerence. The Kashmir issue is the main bone of contention between Pakistan and India, and it must be realised by India that without its resolution lasting peace between the two states would be hard to achieve. However, Pakistan must also realise that India needs closure for Mumbai attacks, and for this Pakistani government must facilitate India in capturing its perpetrators. Hence, dialogue must take place on all of these important issues so that meaningful development can take place.

Trade holds the key in ensuring peace as vested interests tend to be the biggest guarantee in upholding it. This is the area that Pakistan and India, and SAARC countries in general must concentrate on so that prosperity and stability can take root in the region. If history is any indication, trade would form the linkages among the people that would help in breaking the impediments that jingoism usually creates. Trade reduces the importance of past conflicts, and gives the participating countries a stake in each other’s security. For example, India and China have historically been hostile nations; however, their bilateral trade, which is estimated to be close to 100 billion dollars, now militates against conflict.

SAARC was established to promote socio-cultural linkages between member states and to facilitate each other’s collective peace, security and prosperity. However, it is unfortunate that Pakistan at the moment has strained relations with Afghanistan, India, and Bangladesh — three of the eight member states. With the rest of the four countries, namely Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, and Bhutan, Pakistan has relatively better relations. Despite the geographic proximity of all eight SAARC member states, the body has failed to develop into a strong and consolidated international organisation, which can have both political and economic power to implement its agenda of mutual harmony and economic growth. Hence, substantial steps must be taken in this direction so that the full potential of SAARC can be realised.*