Tuesday, 25 November 2014 01:06
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Kathmandu: Nepal’s capital Kathmandu is getting ready host the summit of leaders from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Foreign Secretaries of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Maldives are setting the agenda for the summit due to be held on 26 and 27 November.
However, as in the past, the event is likely to be overshadowed by a probable meeting between the leaders of India and Pakistan. The two sides’ unmitigated animosity has undermined greater regional cooperation, an agenda that was the founding principle of the eight-nation bloc of SAARC.
Yubaraj Ghimire, a leading political analyst in Kathmandu, said there was increasing frustration among the member countries over the summit’s failure to rise above the India-Pakistan agenda.
“SAARC has suffered a lot in the shadow of conflict between India and Pakistan, the tension there, although it is a regional forum but within the regional forum this kind of tension or conflict between the two countries has had its shadow on its future, on its potential,” Ghimire said.
“I think somehow the member countries have now realized that it is also missed opportunity if you don’t execute the programs and policies that you adopted, that is also very crucial,’ he added.
India halted talks between the top diplomats of the two countries after the Pakistani envoy to New Delhi invited Kashmiri separatist leaders for consultations ahead of the proposed meeting.
A meeting between the leaders is seen as crucial because it could help keep alive the idea of engagement between two players whose battle for influence in Afghanistan has a direct bearing on the lives of 1.8 billion people.
Neither New Delhi nor Islamabad has ruled out the possibility of a meeting between their respective leaders on the sidelines of the summit, saying their leaders would be engaging with regional leaders in bilaterals alongside the summit.
While SAARC summits are often little more than a backdrop to bilateral meetings between India and Pakistan, the bloc has tried to push forward cooperation in trade and commerce. This time the eight countries are expected to sign a host of documents aimed at promoting deeper integration for peace and prosperity in the region.
