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at present to have a military or
political role, but rather to stress
the elimination of poverty, hunger
and illiteracy.
The seven leaders-two kings,
two generals, two elected presi–
dents and a prime minister-de–
clared that "a new dawn" had bro–
ken over their turbulent region.
They expressed the hope that "a
new South Asia" would emerge
from the summit, and that it would
open a new era of friendship, coop–
eration and understanding in the
region.
"We are seven brothers today,"
declared President Ershad at the
concluding session. In a poem he
composed for the occasion, the
Bangladeshi leader dubbed the new
South Asia "a Zone of Hope."
King Birendra of Nepal called the
summit "a turning point in our
relations." The Pakistani president .
General Zia ul-Haq, termed the
gathering "epoch-making" and "an
immense contribution to the march
of human civilization."
When in tbe recent
history of this volatile
and conflict-ridden
world have we heard
such words of buoyant
optimism?
cious little coverage in the world's
press. SAARC was generall y
passed off as a "poor man's club"
with dubious prospects for success.
The developed nations, it seems,
refuse to believe much of value can
be learned from the developing.
Formidable Obstac les
The goals and aspirations set forth
by the seven South Asían leaders
show courage and foresight.
SAARC is the tangible manifes–
tation of their collective wisdom
and their determination to cooper–
ate regionally. In response to the
needs of tbeir peoples they have
created an instrument for peace
and cooperation despite economic
disparities and differences in
strategic perceptions.
How to put
words
into
deeds,
however, will present a major chal–
lenge.
Will SAARC succeed in usher–
ing in an enduring stability in
South Asia?
meet here over the next two days,
we will initiate the process of creat–
ing a climate of peace and cooper–
ation in our region, based on mu–
tual understanding, goodwill and
trust. This process will not be easy,
given our political and strategic di–
vergencies and asymmetries in our
sizes, resources and levels of devel–
opment."
The world's press was quick to
point out that there remain many
unresolved political issues that
were purposely excluded from dis–
cussion at the Dhaka summit- sen–
sitive issues that could threaten to
undo all that was begun there.
To ensure a successful launching
of SAARC, the ground rules of the
summit explicitly barred from the
formal framework of the summit
the discussion of contentious bilat–
eral issues. Prívate, one-on-one
talks outside of tbe formal agenda
reportedly touched on a few of
those issues.
All realize, however, that poli–
tics- both interna! and
external-will play a
major role in determin–
ing the future of their
region.
King Wangchuck
ack nowledged this
when be observed:
" It
may neither be possi–
ble nor desirable to
limit discussions in our
~
meetings to issues of a
~
nonpolitical nature, for
~
the political climate of
our region will un–
~
s
doubtedly cast a long
~
shadow over our delib-
The formal and in–
formal meetings
among the seven lead–
ers were characterized
by warmth, enthusiasm
and understanding, and
removed sorne of the
long-s tanding regional
m is trust. They dis–
played a genuine spirit
of friendship and good–
will, and a deep com–
mitment to uplift tbe
lives of the peoples of
National Assembly building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was site of
historie South Asian summit conference.
erations. In the geopo–
litical realities of our
region, it would be un–
real istic to ignore the
their poor and unstable region de–
spite the seemingly insurmountable
obstacles.
Certainly here is an example for
the world at large.
If
this violence–
prone region- witb its historie ani–
mosities and its great diversity of
races, cultures, religions and lan–
guages--can move to beal divisions
and separations that have kept
them apart for nearly four decades,
surely other areas ought to be in–
spired to follow their example of
good neighborliness.
Yet, sadly, SAARC rated pre-
June
1986
Tbe SAARC countries bave
made a start- but they have a long
way to go. The challenges facing
the region are both numerous and
immense. The leaders at Dhaka
were not unaware of the obstacles
in the way of real unity.
"It
would
be unrealistic ... to claim instant
success or to ignore or deny that
very real obstacles, political and
historical, face us," President Er–
shad admitted candidly.
King J igme Singye Wangchuck
of the small Buddhist mountain
state of Bhutan observed: "As we
primacy of the política) fac-
tor ... which will determine the
shape and scope of regional cooper–
ation in South Asia."
Among the irritants in relations
among the seven nations:
Traditional rivals India and Pa–
kistan are engaged in an arms race,
and have serious suspicions about
each other's nuclear intentions. In–
d ia also accuses Pakistan of barbor–
ing and training Sikh terrorists
fighting lndian troops in the north–
ern Indian state of Punjab. (Pa–
kistan has denied the charge.) An-
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