Terrorism single biggest threat to South Asia - Indian PM
South Asia has travelled a long distance in the 23 years since SAARC
was established. The winds of democracy and political change have swept
across our region.
Our people’s aspirations, particularly of our youth, for a better
life and for greater empowerment, are rising and rising very fast. With
globalisation, our economies are ever more inter-connected with our
neighbours and with the world as a whole.
It is however a fact that South Asia has not moved as fast as we all
would have wished. We have only to see the rapid integration within
ASEAN and its emergence as an important economic bloc in Asia to
understand the opportunities that beckon us all.
The speech delivered by Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
at the inaugural session of the 15th SAARC Summit in Colombo on
Saturday |
The success and prosperity of each one of us provides opportunities
to the others to promote their own success and prosperity. This
mutuality of interests is the central driving force of regional
cooperation everywhere. Our aim should be to create virtuous cycles of
growth in our region.
A prosperous South Asia will also be a peaceful and stable South
Asia. Realising this vision requires a change in our mindsets, and a new
paradigm of creative thinking. We can and must do more to give meaning
to the theme of this year’s Summit: “Growth through Partnership”.
Terrorism continues to rear its ugly head in our region. It remains
the single biggest threat to our stability and to our progress. We
cannot afford to lose the battle against the ideologies of hatred,
fanaticism and against all those who seek to destroy our social fabric.
Terrorists and extremists know no borders. The recent attack on the
Indian Embassy in Kabul and the serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad
in the last few days is gruesome reminders of the barbarity that still
finds a place here in South Asia.
We must act jointly and with determination to fight this scourge. We
must defend the values of pluralism, peaceful coexistence and the rule
of law.
South Asia clearly has the resources and the skills needed to meet
our development challenges. I am happy to say that India has experienced
vigorous growth at an average of 8.8% per year for the past four years.
India is now an open economy welcoming investment from everywhere.
The other countries in our region have also done well. Today, Asia
has become the engine of growth of the world economy and South Asia is a
part of this resurgence.
This growth must have a multiplier effect in our region. We have rich
and varied experience in development, which we must pool together to
create a model of inclusive and sustainable regional development.
The SAARC Development Fund has made a promising start with the
launching of two maternal and child healthcare projects. The development
of SAARC Model Villages in each of our countries within the last year is
an equally encouraging development. We must build on these innovative
programmes.
Economic cooperation, connectivity and integration will be the
cornerstone of SAARC in the years ahead. We have already agreed to move
towards a South Asian Customs Union and a South Asian Economic Union in
a planned and phased manner.
India has granted zero duty access to our markets to LDC members from
January 1, 2008, one year ahead of the target and also pruned our
sensitive list for these countries. India’s FTA with Sri Lanka is
working satisfactorily bringing benefits to both our economies.
We will go ahead with these initiatives at a pace we are all
comfortable with. All the leaders have emphasized the importance of
physical connectivity.
On its part, India has upgraded its railway connection to broad gauge
at the Raxaul-Birgunj and Jogbani-Biratnagar borders, the Dhaka-Kolkata
rail service has begun, and work is underway to upgrade infrastructure
along our borders with other neighbours.
India looks forward to the finalization of the draft Agreements on
Motor Vehicles and Railways. I have always believed that the people of
South Asia know much more about countries of the West than they do about
themselves. The fraternity that exists among our students and
professionals outside the region must be re-created here in South Asia.
The overwhelming response generated by the first SAARC Cultural
Festival and the first SAARC Youth Camp reflects the latent desire for
such exchanges. We are excited about the establishment of the South
Asian University.
The land for the University in New Delhi has been acquired and a
Project Office has been set up. When the University becomes operational
in 2010, it will cater to 5,000 students, and will create a pool of
world-class scientists, technologists and thinkers. When they go out
into the world, they will represent not just their respective countries
but all of South Asia.
To be a dynamic and responsive body, SAARC must identify and address
new challenges as they emerge. The unprecedented increase in oil and
food prices risks jeopardizing our developmental gains.
SAARC must make its voice heard in the councils of the world to
ensure that there is an effective global response that protects the
interests of oil consuming countries. We should also pool our resources
to tap renewable sources such as solar energy, hydropower and wind
energy, all of which South Asia has in abundance.
The establishment of the SAARC Food Bank in 2007 was an extremely
forward looking decision. In the context of the global food crisis
today, this decision stands out as an example of our foresight and our
ability to help ourselves.
We should now move forward to an early ratification of the
Intergovernmental Agreement by all the Member States. We in India are
acutely conscious that we need a Second Green Revolution.
The countries of South Asia need to work towards a collective
response that leads to a quantum leap in agricultural productivity,
foodgrain output and farm incomes so that the spectre of food shortages
and hunger vanishes from our region.
India will actively work with Member States to realise the several
proposals that have been made, including greater exchange of knowledge
and experience on breeding livestock, improvement in yields of protein
rich pulses and in adoption of modern post-harvest technologies.
We are inheritors and trustees of one of the most vulnerable
eco-systems in the world. It is most encouraging that our Ministers have
finalised a SAARC Action Plan on Climate Change, which recognises that
rapid development provides the best form of adaptation.
India has recently launched a National Action Plan on Climate Change,
and we will be more than willing to share experiences.
There are a number of areas in this Plan where we need to cooperate
with SAARC member countries such as in our mission on sustaining the
Himalayan ecosystem, in our plans for protection of coastal areas, in
disaster management strategies and programmes, early warning systems and
collaborative research on climate modelling.
SAARC already has projects on water harvesting and afforestation but
we all need to do much more in these vital areas. |