Towards full potential of SAARC
President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s address to the
16th SAARC Summit at Thimphu, Bhutan yesterday, April 28, 2010
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President Mahinda Rajapaksa handing
over the SAARC Chairmanship to Bhutan’s Prime Minister Jigmi
Y Thinley. Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is also
in the picture.
Picture by Sudath Silva |
It gives me great pleasure to be with all of you in this serene and
enchanting city of Thimphu. Prime Minister Thinley, you have today
assumed the Chair in the Silver Jubilee Year of SAARC. I pledge my
wholehearted cooperation towards the success of your leadership of our
Association. In keeping with the national traditions of the people of
Bhutan, we have been accorded a most warm welcome and generous
hospitality by the Royal Government of Bhutan. I value this opportunity
to be in your country with which we share a common spiritual bond and
long-lasting friendship.
When we met in Colombo at the 15th SAARC Summit less than two years
ago, Sri Lanka had been engaged against terrorism for a period, sadly
spanning over three decades. The defeat of separatism and terrorism
since then has given us now the opportunity to engage in open
discussions and reach consensus, without the fear of guns.
With the strong mandate expressed at both the recent Presidential and
Parliamentary Elections, I am now ready to lead our nation and her
children to a brighter future. I am confident that in this effort, I
will have the fullest encouragement and cooperation from Sri Lanka’s
closest neighbours, all of whom are present here in this forum today.
SAARC is the one organisation working for the welfare and socio-economic
advancement of the people of our region.
Our hallmark and indeed our strength, is our collective identity,
promoted and strengthened by over two decades of regional cooperation
within the SAARC framework. It has been and remains a crucial factor in
forging closer links among our governments and more importantly, amongst
our people. As SAARC marks its Silver Jubilee, we must take pride in the
efforts taken since 1985, step by step, to build the Association. We now
stand on the doorstep of our continued onward journey, towards the next
generation of cooperative efforts.
Undoubtedly we all see ‘Climate Change’, the theme of our Summit, as
being most timely. The impact of this phenomenon is of acute and common
concern for all of us in the South Asian region, from the snow capped
mountains of Nepal and Bhutan to the sandy beaches of Maldives and Sri
Lanka.
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President
Mahinda Rajapaksa |
The South Asian voice on this issue guided by the principle of common
but differentiated responsibilities must be strongly heard in all
international fora. Those in the developed world who have historically
contributed to the climate change must now bear the lion share of the
burden to mitigate this phenomenon.
Commitment to democratic governance now encompasses our entire
region. Our economies led by the dynamic growth of India, have weathered
the global recession successfully. In my country Sri Lanka, we have been
able despite an adverse economic global environment to achieve economic
growth at about six percent per annum, while the per capita income has
increased from US Dollars one thousand sixty in the year 2005 to US
Dollars two thousand fifty today.
What is of even greater importance to me is the success we have
achieved in ensuring that the benefits of this progress filter down to
the village level. It is crucial that economic development should not be
restricted to mere statistics. It should touch the community at all
levels and make their lives easier, richer and more satisfying.
The tremendous progress which has been achieved in my country at the
village level, in terms of construction of roads, irrigation systems,
power and energy supplies, drinking water and improved facilities in
schools and hospitals, has given economic progress a practical dimension
enriching the life of the community in all sectors. We were committed to
this emphasis on development in the midst of security operations against
terrorism.
This policy, which has brought rich dividends to our country, is
underpinned by the conviction that economic progress does not require
the mass movement of populations from the rural hinterland to urban
areas.
Rather than moving people to urban areas, which brings about a
variety of problems connected with housing, water, sewage and many
social issues, my government has consistently preferred to make
facilities and resources available to the rural population in their own
areas. This is the explanation of the recent resounding mandate that my
government has received from the rural population in all areas of Sri
Lanka.
Nevertheless despite many examples of the achievements gained within
our region, we in South Asia sometimes underestimate our collective
strength. We tend to discount the resources and skills we have, that can
meet our development challenges as well as our social and security
needs.
In fact, we often tend to provide priority to our engagements with
extra regional actors, without devoting sufficient attention to further
developing and strengthening the links within our own regional
organization.
Therefore, let us within our own grouping be bold enough to
introspect. We must take measures to improve the existing mechanisms
through review, rationalisation and reinvigoration. If there is a need,
we should not hesitate to build new structures and mechanisms, to enable
SAARC to reach its full potential.
As regards the world outside our region, the need of the hour is for
SAARC to enhance its collective interactions on global issues. We must
uphold our sovereign right to decide on what is best for us.
We must strive to avoid externally induced rigid solutions. We must
rather rally behind homegrown and intra-regionally evolved measures.
Towards this end, we should now endeavour to strengthen the mechanisms
to speak with one voice on issues of common concern for our region in
international fora, in particular at the United Nations.
During Sri Lanka’s steward-ship of SAARC, we attempted, over the past
eighteen months, several initiatives aimed at enhancing cooperation in
important sectors for the region.
Our efforts included the hosting of six Ministerial Meetings in the
sectors of Energy, Higher Education, Children, Transport, Science and
Technology and Parliamentary Affairs.
This period reiterated to us the message that when there is the will,
the way to work together does not lag behind. For instance, at Sri
Lanka’s initiative, the SAARC Foreign Ministers, who met in Colombo in
February 2009 for the Inter-Summit Session, issued a Joint Ministerial
Statement, responding to the then emerging global economic crisis. That
Statement was perhaps one of the first on this issue from a regional
organization.
The most effective means at our command to make SAARC an even more
robust organisation is to link seamlessly the processes and activities
of regional cooperation, with the aspirations of the mass of our people.
Towards this end, let us see how like in several other areas of the
world that have embarked on regional cooperation, we can best draw on
the democratic and participatory tradition collectively represented by
the Parliamentarians of South Asia, to boost the progress of SAARC. I
would hope that indeed the time is not too distant, when we may within
our region, envisage a regular Conclave of SAARC Parliamentarians.
Such a Conclave will further engage the support and involvement of
the People’s Representatives. It will thereby make SAARC popular within
the region. The goal must be for SAARC to become truly people centric.
The two Regional Instruments that are to be signed at this Summit,
namely the Agreement on Trade in Services and the Convention on
Cooperation on Environment cover two important areas that have a direct
impact on the lives of our peoples.
We must also resolve in this ‘Decade of Intra-regional Connectivity
in SAARC’, to work diligently to strengthen both the physical and soft
connectivity between our countries and peoples. We must find, as well,
the best and the most practical means to implement the provisions of
existing SAARC Conventions, especially against Terrorism.
Last, but not least, SAARC, as a regional organisation cannot
progress in isolation. We must, therefore, strengthen the means for
practical engagement with the SAARC Observer States and with selected
International Organisations in particular, for our development efforts.
South Asia is a region that is home to one of the world’s oldest and
most magnificent civilisations. We have given forth to the world, a
large number of its greatest sages, scientists, political activists,
poets and artists. I have always believed that human beings have the
capacity to achieve the most difficult and noble goals in life, so long
as there is commitment and dedication.
Therefore, if we are determined enough I am confident that we, as a
region, can through our own efforts, realise our full potential. The
Buddha said, Atta hi attano natho (‘Oneself is one’s own benefactor’).
Surely at this juncture, we must allow these words of wisdom to guide
the destiny of our region.
May the Noble Triple Gem Bless you all.
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