The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will set the agenda for a meeting between prime ministers Manmohan Singh and Yusaf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the Saarc summit.
The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will set the agenda for a meeting between prime ministers Manmohan Singh and Yusaf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the Saarc summit.
For a change, there are no expectations on either side. The last one-on-one between Singh and Gilani in Sharm-el-Sheikh was a disaster. This time, Singh will be cautious to ensure that he does not give the opposition another stick to beat the government.
The low-key meeting may help both leaders focus on the new terms of engagement between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Much will depend on what action Pakistan has taken to bring the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks to justice. India is also keen to see that Hafiz Saeed, the head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, is placed under house arrest.
Top political leaders will make attempts to ensure that the way is cleared for India and Pakistan to engage so that the region does not suffer because of the bad blood between them. Smaller countries in Saarc have often complained bitterly that regional co-operation has not moved forward, mainly because of the rivalry between India and Pakistan.
The South Asian Free Trade Agreement (Safta) may be there on paper, but so far it has belied the promise of regenerating trade among member countries. The blame for much of this is lies with India and Pakistan. “The summit will provide the countries of this region an opportunity to collectively reflect on where we are and what more we can do together to meet the developmental aspirations of our people, and how south Asia can play its rightful role in the international arena,” prime minister Singh said in a statement ahead of his visit to Thimpu.
But the grouping has been unable to live up to the high expectations on which it was founded in 1985. The prime minister pointed to Safta, the Saarc Development Fund and Saarc University as some concrete examples of regional projects that will enable greater economic inter-linkages.
But even in matters of the Saarc university, differences between India and Pakistan have been stumbling blocks. India has refused to lift visa restrictions on Pakistani professors and scholars wanting to work in the university. Islamabad has pointed out that visa restrictions applied to Pakistani students will make it difficult for scholars to want to come to India to study.
While scholars from other Saarc nations can travel anywhere in India, the usual restrictions will apply to Pakistanis. Islamabad is pushing for the visa regime to be liberalised. However, given the atmosphere of distrust, there is little chance of this happening.
“The winds of change are blowing across the world. South Asia cannot be immune to the trend of greater integration, at the regional and global levels,’’ Singh said on Tuesday. But unless India and Pakistan begin to seriously engage, a resurgent south Asia will remain a pipe dream.
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