Kathmandu: Pakistan had objected over the agreement with India in SAARC on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the SAARC summit and said, “As SAARC we have failed to move with the speed that our people expect and want. Nowhere in the world are collective efforts more urgent than in South Asia; and, nowhere else is it so modest.”
Barely an hour later, his concerns proved warranted. Pakistan had blocked key proposals pitched by India to integrate energy grids and free up road and rail movement, seen as crucial for improving cross-border trade, which remains minimal between SAARC countries.
It was decided that no agreements would be signed, ensuring the first SAARC summit in three years has turned out to be a whopping non-achiever.
Notify that ahead of summit, three agreements had been prepared. Two on improving road and rail connections and one on making it easier for countries in the power-starved region to trade in electricity. Just because of the objection of Pakistan, none of these will proceed.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has delivered negligible results for economic ties and development in its 30 years among its eight members – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
South Asian nations conduct only 5 per cent of their total trade with each other despite a free trade pact since 2006, and there are few transport and power links among them.
Bureau Report
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