New Delhi, February 14
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran today virtually drew a ‘Lakshman Rekha’ for SAARC member countries saying that India would not like to see a SAARC in which some of its members perceive it as a vehicle primarily to countervail India or to seek to limit its room to manoeuvre.
India’s top diplomat unveiled New Delhi’s South Asia Doctrine of sorts in a strongly worded speech "India and its Neighbours" when he said India was willing to make its neighbours full stakeholders in its economic success story but the neighbours would have to demonstrate sensitivity to New Delhi’s vital concerns regarding cross-border terrorism.
"India can and will not ignore such conduct (cross-border terrorism and hostile activity against India) and will take whatever steps are necessary to safeguard its interests", Mr Saran said.
The Foreign Secretary laid out parameters of minimum foreign policy imperatives expected by New Delhi from its neighbours. These are as follows:
(i) There has to be a minimal consensual basis on which to pursue cooperation under SAARC and that is the willingness to promote cross-border linkages.
"If there continues to be a resistance to such linkages within the region, even while seeking to promote linkages outside the region, if the thrust of initiatives of some of the members is seen to be patently hostile to India or motivated by a desire to contain India in some way, SAARC would continue to lack substance and energy."
(ii) There should be a comprehensive and meaningful intra-regional collaboration in economic fields.
"The fact is that SAARC is still largely a consultative body, which has shied away from undertaking even a single collaborative project in its 20 years of existence. In fact, there is deep resistance to doing anything that could be collaborative", the Foreign Secretary said.
(iii) India would like the whole of South Asia to emerge as a community of flourishing democracies.
In an obvious reference to the February 1 royal coup in Nepal and the state of political affairs in neighbours like Pakistan, the Foreign Secretary said: "While democracy remains India’s abiding conviction, the importance of our neighbourhood requires that we remain engaged with whichever government is exercising authority in any country in our neighbourhoood. Our sympathy will always be with democratic and secular forces... we need to go beyond governments and engage the peoples of South Asia to create a compact of peace and harmony throughout our region. To remain relevant, SAARC must begin to function as an effective vehicle to facilitate such contacts."
The Foreign Secretary rued the fact that unlike EU or ASEAN there was no common security doctrine in South Asia despite occupying the same geographical space.
He argued this was largely because some members of SAARC actively seek association with
countries outside the region or with regional or international organisations in a barely disguised effort to counterbalance India, within the SAARC or to project SAARC as some kind of regional dispute settlement mechanism.
Later in a question-answer session at the end of his lecture, Mr Saran said India’s defence ties with Nepal would remain under constant review.
He also said during External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh’s Pakistan visit, beginning tomorrow, some forward movement was expected on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service.
