Islamabad-Bhurbhan, May 15-20, 2005: We, the members of parliaments from the member countries of SAARC, representing all major parties and from all shades of opinion in our parliaments, having met at SAFMA's 'South Asian Parliament: Evolving South Asian Fraternity', from May 15- 20, 2005, at Islamabad-Bhurban, Pakistan, have arrived at the following vision and cooperative, equitable and strategic understanding on meeting the challenges of the 21st Century and globalisation and ushering in a new era of South Asian Fraternal Partnership:1. South Asia is at a historic moment of unprecedented potential for transforming its economic and social conditions and, together with China, emerging as two large economies in the next two decades, playing a key role not only in the global economy, but also in the development of human civilisation in the 21st century. Yet the world cannot be sustained by economic growth alone. Human life is threatened with environmental crises, conflicts, endemic poverty, natural calamities and an arms race.
2. Our societies have a rich cultural tradition of unity in diversity, creative growth through human solidarity and harmony with nature. In bringing these aspects of their culture in facing contemporary challenges, the people of this region could bring a new consciousness and institutions to the global market mechanism that can take the world on to a new trajectory of cooperative, sustainable development and human security. Global cooperation in environmental protection, poverty reduction and defusing the flash points of social conflict and an end to violence, terrorism and repression will become the essential underpinning of sustainable development and human security in this century. Thus it is not the military muscle of a state/region that will be the emblem of status, but its contribution to meeting the challenge of peace, overcoming global poverty, protecting the planet from environmental disaster and contributing to humanizing the world and advancement of its people.
3. The global environment provides a historically unprecedented scale of capital flows, trade opportunities, information and technologies, which, if utilized, can dramatically transform the material and social conditions of life of the countries of South Asia. A vision is efficacious to the extent that it can be concretized. This requires bringing to bear the new consciousness of South Asian Cooperative and Equitable Partnership to undertake specific policy actions. Apart from implementing the decision at the Islamabad SAARC Summit to establish a South Asian Free Trade Area, SAARC Social Charter, ISACPA Report on Poverty Alleviation, three broad areas for deepening economic cooperation can be identified for the purposes of specific policy action: (1) Energy Cooperation and Water Management and Conservation within South Asia; (2) Increased investment for accelerating economic growth, especially in physical and social infrastructures; (3) Restructuring growth for faster poverty eradication and human resource development.
4. With the most contiguous region of the world, a common history to share and similarities of cultures, South Asia has fewer baggage(s) to shed than Europe or the Far East. It is now booming with the ideas of regional cooperation that take a wholist approach towards the collective good of the region as they increasingly find state-centric and security-centered approaches inconsistent with the interest of our 1.4 billion people and the imperatives of our times.
5. Remarkable concurrence of views expressed by the elected representatives of our peoples at SAFMA's Forum of South Asian Parliament reflect the immense urge of our peoples to outgrow the past and take a leap into a future that is free from want and conflict. Certain stages of history can be skipped, so can various evolutionary stages through which, for example, the European Union had to pass in the 20th Century. The intrastate conflicts and interstate disputes must move from management to resolution in a result-oriented process that must at the same time allow, rather than hinder, regional cooperation to address the demands of our peoples. The lines of conflicts must change into the bridges of friendship and the fenced-borders must gradually soften before the urge of South Asians to become a fraternal and indivisible community of people with nation states, while keeping their sovereign equality, joining hands in submitting before the will of their real sovereigns -- The People.
6. The steps can be simultaneously taken, in an integrated and well calibrated sequencing and realistic stages, towards South Asian Free Trade Area, South Asian Union, (Tourism/Environment/Water/Energy/Communication /Information/Economic), South Asian Tariffs and Customs Union, South Asian Monetary Union, South Asian Bank and Development Fund, South Asian Collective Security and South Asian Parliament. However, to take a leap forward, there will have to be no hegemon, nor ganging up by the small against the big-one. A new paradigm of equitable partnership must evolve to reshape our all-sided relations.
7. Welcoming the current peace process between India and Pakistan with its two-fold objectives: the exploration of all options for a final settlement of the J&K question in an atmosphere free of violence, terrorism and normalization of bilateral relations while implementing their joint statements of January 6, 2004, September 24, 2004 and April 18, 2005 in their letter and spirit. Appreciating the efforts by India and Pakistan to undertake nuclear and conventional military confidence-building measures, we urge them to put in place a comprehensive regime of CBMs that will ensure a nuclear-tension free subcontinent. We endorse the demands of India and Pakistan for negotiations with the other nuclear weapons powers to promote global non-proliferation and effective nuclear disarmament. Appeal to all countries in the region to put in place comprehensive sustainable dialogue mechanisms for resolving all bilateral disputes. While India and Pakistan today have a composite dialogue in place which has gathered momentum, similar exercises are needed, for example between India and Bangladesh.Sharing the aspirations of our people for a better life and collectively face the challenges posed by globalization and meeting the demands of the WTO regime, have reached a broader consensus to pursue the agenda and goals. South Asian Journal Jul-Sept 2005
2. Our societies have a rich cultural tradition of unity in diversity, creative growth through human solidarity and harmony with nature. In bringing these aspects of their culture in facing contemporary challenges, the people of this region could bring a new consciousness and institutions to the global market mechanism that can take the world on to a new trajectory of cooperative, sustainable development and human security. Global cooperation in environmental protection, poverty reduction and defusing the flash points of social conflict and an end to violence, terrorism and repression will become the essential underpinning of sustainable development and human security in this century. Thus it is not the military muscle of a state/region that will be the emblem of status, but its contribution to meeting the challenge of peace, overcoming global poverty, protecting the planet from environmental disaster and contributing to humanizing the world and advancement of its people.
3. The global environment provides a historically unprecedented scale of capital flows, trade opportunities, information and technologies, which, if utilized, can dramatically transform the material and social conditions of life of the countries of South Asia. A vision is efficacious to the extent that it can be concretized. This requires bringing to bear the new consciousness of South Asian Cooperative and Equitable Partnership to undertake specific policy actions. Apart from implementing the decision at the Islamabad SAARC Summit to establish a South Asian Free Trade Area, SAARC Social Charter, ISACPA Report on Poverty Alleviation, three broad areas for deepening economic cooperation can be identified for the purposes of specific policy action: (1) Energy Cooperation and Water Management and Conservation within South Asia; (2) Increased investment for accelerating economic growth, especially in physical and social infrastructures; (3) Restructuring growth for faster poverty eradication and human resource development.
4. With the most contiguous region of the world, a common history to share and similarities of cultures, South Asia has fewer baggage(s) to shed than Europe or the Far East. It is now booming with the ideas of regional cooperation that take a wholist approach towards the collective good of the region as they increasingly find state-centric and security-centered approaches inconsistent with the interest of our 1.4 billion people and the imperatives of our times.
5. Remarkable concurrence of views expressed by the elected representatives of our peoples at SAFMA's Forum of South Asian Parliament reflect the immense urge of our peoples to outgrow the past and take a leap into a future that is free from want and conflict. Certain stages of history can be skipped, so can various evolutionary stages through which, for example, the European Union had to pass in the 20th Century. The intrastate conflicts and interstate disputes must move from management to resolution in a result-oriented process that must at the same time allow, rather than hinder, regional cooperation to address the demands of our peoples. The lines of conflicts must change into the bridges of friendship and the fenced-borders must gradually soften before the urge of South Asians to become a fraternal and indivisible community of people with nation states, while keeping their sovereign equality, joining hands in submitting before the will of their real sovereigns -- The People.
6. The steps can be simultaneously taken, in an integrated and well calibrated sequencing and realistic stages, towards South Asian Free Trade Area, South Asian Union, (Tourism/Environment/Water/Energy/Communication /Information/Economic), South Asian Tariffs and Customs Union, South Asian Monetary Union, South Asian Bank and Development Fund, South Asian Collective Security and South Asian Parliament. However, to take a leap forward, there will have to be no hegemon, nor ganging up by the small against the big-one. A new paradigm of equitable partnership must evolve to reshape our all-sided relations.
7. Welcoming the current peace process between India and Pakistan with its two-fold objectives: the exploration of all options for a final settlement of the J&K question in an atmosphere free of violence, terrorism and normalization of bilateral relations while implementing their joint statements of January 6, 2004, September 24, 2004 and April 18, 2005 in their letter and spirit. Appreciating the efforts by India and Pakistan to undertake nuclear and conventional military confidence-building measures, we urge them to put in place a comprehensive regime of CBMs that will ensure a nuclear-tension free subcontinent. We endorse the demands of India and Pakistan for negotiations with the other nuclear weapons powers to promote global non-proliferation and effective nuclear disarmament. Appeal to all countries in the region to put in place comprehensive sustainable dialogue mechanisms for resolving all bilateral disputes. While India and Pakistan today have a composite dialogue in place which has gathered momentum, similar exercises are needed, for example between India and Bangladesh.Sharing the aspirations of our people for a better life and collectively face the challenges posed by globalization and meeting the demands of the WTO regime, have reached a broader consensus to pursue the agenda and goals. South Asian Journal Jul-Sept 2005
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