Kathmandu: With the 18th SAARC summit kick-starting in Kathmandu, all eyes are on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif’s meet. While there is no confirmation on the same, reports suggest the two may meet at the summit retreat.
Modi’s influence in SAARC is apparent. It started on May 26 when all SAARC leaders attended his swearing-in ceremony. He promised then and reiterates at every given chance that regional cooperation is key to growth and prosperity.
The Indian leaders influence grew day after day as he made historically recognised trips to the US and Australia. President Barack Obama’s snub to Sharif added another feather to Modi’s cap. It showed how the most powerful country was now changing its ally from Pakistan to India.
Sharif had again unsuccessfully attempted to pull in Obama to intervene on the Kashmir issue during his scheduled visit to India as chief guest for Republic Day celebrations. Sharif in a telephonic conversation last week, had reminded the US President of his pending visit to Pakistan. However a release from the Pakistani Foreign Office said Obama had told Sharif he would visit the country ‘only when the situation normalises’.
Ever since its advent nearly three decades ago, SAARC has been held hostage to bilateral disputes, mostly between India and Pakistan. As a consequence, SAARC has not been able to facilitate cooperation between member states. Going by the trend, Pakistan’s Kashmir rant may hijack the SAARC summit, as the country chucks no platform to raise the issue. Â
However the SAARC nations will seek to look past that and find new dimensions in strengthening ties and their dominance as a region. The destiny of the regions remains intertwined and its foremost objective will be to promote the welfare of people of South Asia.
The two-day 18th South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation summit will deliberate on a range of crucial issues such as defence and security, improving transport connectivity among the member states and ensuring greater flow of goods and services to boost trade and commerce.
The theme of the summit is ‘Deeper Regional Integration for Peace and Prosperity’ and diplomats of a number of member countries said there have been expectations that the summit will have “breakthroughs” in some areas.
The authorities have put in place an elaborate security cover deploying over 25,000 armed commandos across the city which have been decked up to greet the leaders of the member countries.