New note on SAARC

SAARC which was formed in December 1985 in Dhaka will be a quarter century old soon. SAPFA which was ratified and made functional in 1995 is rolling along like the Old Man River unable to become the Free Trade entity SAFTA that was envisaged in its 10th anniversary when SAPTA came into being.

The Common Currency also still remains a distant dream. This South Asian body of 1.5 billion people has become a Protected Tortoise in the Hills of Kathmandu where lies its land-locked Secretariat. The most inherent problem of SAARC is that its two most important members are unable to come to terms on the unfinished business left behind by its Colonial Master. Furthermore because SAARC is perceived as a poor man’s club its most important member is knocking at APECs door for membership.

Therefore the 16th SAARC conference has ended on the same melancholy note to do better in the future with no serious long-term plan. SAARC could reach its full potential but is there anyone who could give it some good ideas to build on. The 21st Century is said to be that which belongs to Asia and the Great Game as coined by Rudyard Kipling will be played out by the two main actors in the Indian Ocean. The MR in-between is the Pearl of Orient - Sri Lanka. In my opinion the role of SAARC could not be more important than ever before to the new world order which is slowly but surely taking shape with all its ramifications.

SAARC has to be radically re-structured to bring out its dynamism and some radical adjustments have to be made to its present form and administration. Firstly the Secretariat in Kathmandu should be brought to a more logistically suited location to serve the needs of its members and secondly its membership should be increased to give it what is required to be able make its voice heard.

I would wish to make some suggestions which is only meant to alleviate poverty of the world at large and the uphold and uplift the common good but nevertheless radical. Plan A would be to link SAARC with APEC and form the Asia Pacific Community which is an option for the plan of our Australian PM Kevin Rudd by 2020 to seriously consider. Plan B is for SAARC to invite China and Iran to join the club which will double the number of the SAARC family to three billion people and will have the critical mass to make SAFTA and the Common Currency a reality. India and China gives the Consumer Base, Iran the Energy required and Sri Lanka the Logistics Provider.

I would personally prefer Plan A, because when the Hambantota Harbour Complex Stage One is completed this year this iconic infrastructure becomes the gateway to the Asia Pacific region and we bring into play the four biggest entities USA, Russia, India and China back to trade our way out of the global financial downturn of 2008 whose threat to global stability is still real. With the Doha Round still in cold storage this would be the best way to go.

But if the Plan A stalls then the contingency plan B is the other option for SAARC. The humble leader President Mahinda Rajapaksa who has just bowed as Chairman of SAARC has the World at his feet so to say with Sri Lanka holding the keys in the Indian Ocean that separates the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The janus like geography gives Sri Lanka this unique position to serve the East and West with the true spirit of Non-Alignment. President Rajapaksa with 40 years of political experience and acumen takes on a formidable task in November 2010 when he starts his second term in office as President to oversee the economic quantum leap for Sri Lanka and also serve as a honest broker between the East and West from a logistics position which is our natural endowment given to resplendent Sri Lanka. May the Triple Gem shine on all our people and blessed land the Light of Asia.

Trevor Jayetileke Victoria, Australia.