Colombo declaration of SARRC Summit

- Thinakkural Editorial

(August 06, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The 15th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) concluded its two-day proceedings in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, on Sunday, August 3. The summit discussed and adopted a 41-point Declaration or the "Colombo declaration", which called for united efforts and in-regional connectivity to combat threats posed by terrorism to peace, stability and security of the region. It also called to eradicate poverty and to protect energy and environment.

It represents the keynote or the main theme of the SAARC member nations to strengthen their co-operation for peace and their unity for common development. At its opening ceremony, eight heads of state or governments first of all "bombarded" terrorism spontaneously. In order to combat terrorism, South Asian nations signed the "SAARC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance".

The main topics at the summit, among others, are to eliminate abject poverty, to resolve (or dissolve) the food and energy crises and to respond to global climate change. The SAARC member nations have a combined population of 1.5 billion, and more than 500 million South Asians currently live in poverty, who account for about half of the needy people worldwide.

Since the food and energy crises and global climate change pose the main challenges for the entire globe, and the people of South Asia, instead of escaping or averting them, have suffered most severely as it has a vast population but with a very fragile and weak economic foundation. So, all the leaders of SAARC member states appealed in their addresses at the summit for enhancing the regional cooperation to tide over difficulties, as they have come to acquire an ample understanding of this situation.

Moreover, the SAARC leaders signed the agreement on the establishment of the South Asian Regional Standard Organization and the agreement on Afghanistan's Entry on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA). Both accords are of vital significance to economic and trade cooperation in the region. They also inked an agreement on granting Australia and Myanmar (or Burma) the observer status in the SAARC organization.

Meanwhile, the summit meeting agreed to launch a plan for the "SAARC Food Bank" to cope with a food crisis. SAARC member nations have agreed to establish a "SAARC Food Bank" to overcome the possible food crisis. And each member nation also has to build a reserve grain depot by its own efforts in accordance with the plan. In case of a crop failure, it can borrow cereals from other SAARC member nations.

The leaders also signed a pact for setting up a "SAARC development fund" of 300 million-US dollars in a bid to prop up the infrastructure development of SAARC member nations. Furthermore, the SAARC members also adopted a three-year "action plan" to jointly fight global climate change.

Within the 5 years of SARRC's formation, there was a summit held in Islamabad during the 1985-1990 period. The then President J.R.Jayawardena, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto participated at the meeting. J.R.Jayawardena, who addressed that session, stressed that full support should be provided to destroy terrorism from the South Asian region.

Benazir Bhutto who was the leader of the SARRC at that time pointed out that terrorism has another side like a coin which is state terrorism.

Therefore leaders, who have decided to support the fight against terrorism, must show additional concern over the root cause of terrorism.

(An English translation of the Editorial in Thinnakkural, a Tamil daily, based in Colombo)
- Sri Lanka Guardian