India calls on SAARC nations to forge eco unity

Shimla, June 2: India today called upon the SAARC nations to neutralise the forces inimical to peace and prosperity in South Asia and work for sincere implementation of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Agreement in the interest of the overall economic development of the region.

Given its wide reach and the speed, media was singularly placed to bring about a change in the mindset of all those who were not positively inclined towards or were sceptical about the future of regional cooperation in South Asia, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said, inaugurating a two-day conference ''Towards South Asian Unity''.

Nearly 100 Parliamentarians from the 8 SAARC countries--India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives--are participating in the conference, organised by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA).

Lamenting that many social and economic ills were plaguing the region, the Speaker said the people of South Asia, however, had the strength to grapple with the problems they were faced with. ''The people's representatives need to work hard, increase interaction among themselves and understand each other's perspectives and join hands in trying to provide an enabling condition to our people so that they will be able to contribute to the peace process and also enjoy the benefits of peace and development as equal partners,'' he added.

Mr Chatterjee said the Parliamentarians, as people's representatives and law makers, could contribute significantly towards supporting and supplementing the efforts of their respective governments in actualising the objectives set out in the SAARC Social Charter as also in achieving the SAARC Development Goals and the Millennium Development Goals. ''I have no doubt in my mind that the SAFTA holds a bright future for our countries as we, as Parliamentarians, should ensure that the agreement is sincerely implemented by our respective governments so that people can enjoy the dividend of increasing regional trade,'' he said.

He was of the view that free flow of information among the SAARC countries for removing the atmosphere of suspicion and misunderstanding among the peoples of the region was of crucial importance. ''This can be made possible only when we allow more and more people, including students, teachers, professionals and journalists to visit respective countries,'' he said. In this context, he also informed the conference about the Indian Government's decision to liberalise the visa regime for students, teachers and journalists with a view to further increasing people-to-people contacts.

He said the people of the region were now clamouring for peace as they craved for a better standard of living, better health care and school facilities for their children. They were now realising that their well being and security lay not in confrontation or in maintaining an adversarial relationship but in cooperation and peaceful co-existence. ''Both Parliamentarians and media should reflect the aspirations of the people to live in peace and harmony and unitedly make efforts in that direction'', he added.

Addressing the conference, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said South Asia had the potential of becoming the powerhouse of economic strength in the world if its enegries were harnessed and directed in the right direction.

The physical resources --human as well as natural-- in the region afforded enormous opportunities of bilateral and multilateral cooperation among SAARC member-states, he said.

In his address, SAFMA President K K Katyal said that compared to other geions, South Asia lagged behind in many ways. However, it had several advantages which could be exploited to the benefit of the people of the region.

UNI

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