South Asia - Challenges facing the region

By Dr. Palitha Kohona 

(April 16, Manila, Sri Lanka Guardian) Talking of the challenges facing South Asian region one wonders where to begin and where to stop. It is a complex region with the plethora of challenges, some of which are not of its creation. Some long standing and others from recent times. The region is endowed with a vast and ancient historical and cultural heritage as well as an abundance of natural resources. While the rich heritage continues to guide and mould the ethics and values of the people in our region and is a stabilizing factor, the resources could be the basis for realizing the region’s development potential. In addition the region is home to more than two billion people, a rich resource by itself, but many are still mired in poverty. Until the mid 20th Century, a large part of the Asia Pacific region was under colonial rule, dominated by European nations. During this period the region and its resources were subjected to vast scale exploitation and their development was conditioned to suit the needs of the colonial masters. The impact of this exploitation is evident even today not only in economic, social and cultural terms but also on the environment. This is a legacy that has not been shed yet.



Colonialism forced many of us into the modern mercantilist age. Parallel with the roads, the air lines, the harbours and the rail tracks, independence in the middle of the 20th century, left many countries of the region with widespread poverty, appalling deprivation, illiteracy and inadequate services. Establishing a minimum level in these sectors, while neighbours confronted each other over inherited boundaries, consumed much of their energies in the immediate post- independence period.

Many governments in the region bravely rose to the challenge of addressing the issues of deprivation, illiteracy, malnutrition, health-care, access to safe drinking water and the like. This was a complicated task given the remaining shackles of economic and political bondage. The level of success was surprising to the critics. Starvation was conquered, common diseases were brought under control, more children grew into adulthood, and in many parts, signs of prosperity began to appear. Poverty, though significant, was being reduced rapidly. In 1987, in South Asia, the SAARC, a regional organization emerged designed to address the common challenges. Though slow to gather steam, the organization is now beginning to make a significant impact.

In the 1990s, South Asia saw unprecedented improvement both in terms of economic and social development. While the population has continued to grow, the contribution of the region to the world economy witnessed a spectacular rise. Today India, along with China contribute over 40% of the world’s product. Many in the ASEAN region have reached mid-income country status and are no longer standing in the receiving line for handouts.

While considerable success has been achieved, new challenges have emerged. The dawn of 21st century has seen the emergence of more complex and diverse difficulties that threaten to turn back the clock and destroy what has been achieved. Terrorism, climate change, food and energy in security have begun to threaten the region. And now the global financial crisis has added a new and vastly different dimension, threatening to drag the poor countries which contributed little to create the crisis, back to the days of deprivation of the past. The effect of these challenges threaten the political and economic stability and efforts to strengthen our institutions, in particular the strengthening of democratic institutions.

Terrorism has affected all our countries to some extent or other. My country has been the victim of brutal terrorist attacks by an organization that refined terrorism to a fiendishly vicious art. Terrorism has stunted our growth, destabilized our social cohesion, brutalized our societies and negatively impacted on our social service network. Recognizing its importance, terrorism has made the economy a key target. Scarce resources have had to be diverted to counter the menace. Adding to the worries of our state institutions, it has branched out to drug running, arms and human trafficking, money laundering and a range of other illegal activities.

The Asian region has a critical and central role to play in countering this menace. We must move beyond narrow bilateral concerns and boldly adopt wider measures for developing effective solutions to this regional and global threat. Terrorism has evolved trans-national linkages and multi- dimensional security challenges to our region and cannot be successfully addressed in isolation by individual countries. It is important to take a comprehensive and holistic approach to root out terrorism in terms of both individual and joint measures. Given the nature of the menace, international organizations also have to play a role in countering it. All the good work that international organizations do elsewhere, can be undone very quickly by the cancer of terrorism. Democracy must be firmly supported and upheld while defeating terrorism. Broader cooperation in intelligence sharing, arresting and prosecuting offenders, adopting legal and administrative measures to counter arms smuggling, money laundering, people trafficking, narcotic trading etc is a must. We must not let this scourge blunt our efforts to make our region a better place for our people. The SAARC in addition to adopting wide range of counter measures, has also expressed its unreserved condemnation of terrorism, consistent with the mood of the international community.

The SAARC Ministerial Declaration on Cooperation in Combating Terrorism issued at the conclusion of the 31st session of the SAARC Council of Ministers emphasized the need for its members to contribute to the efforts in the UN General Assembly for the early finalization of the draft UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. It reiterated the commitment to strengthening the SAARC and the global regime against terrorism. At a practical level, acknowledging the complexity of the problem, especially its causes, it was decided to establish a High-Level Group of Eminent Experts to review and make proposals to further strengthen the SAARC anti-terrorism mechanisms, including for pragmatic cooperation. This high level group is expected to begin functioning in the near future.

The domino effect of the global economic crisis, a crisis created in the financial centres of the developed world, has already had its impact on liquidity, availability of credit, trade flows, production, the service sectors and employment levels of the economies of our region. Most export dependent economies of our region have been severely affected. Tourism has begun to lose its lustre. Industries of our region have started to lose their vigour. Unemployment that had been successfully managed so far, is emerging as a serious concern with wide social ramifications, especially for women. A region that has grown consistently has begun to feel the cold chills of slow growth, a paucity of credit, a lack of confidence and a fear of the future.

The SAARC Ministerial Statement on Global Economic Crisis at the recently concluded 31st Session of the SAARC Council of Minister’s emphasized both regional and global measures that needed to be explored in seeking solutions to the crisis. The statement further emphasized the need for a well coordinated regional approach considering the severe impact of the crisis on the socio-economic development of the SAARC region. The necessity for deepening and broadening of regional and sub-regional economic links in the Asia Pacific and other regions was also emphasized, including the need for a viable standby facility.

While the one trillion dollar package of measures agreed by the G-20 is a welcome step in the right direction, it is noted that much of the rescue packages being implemented by the developed countries are designed to rescue themselves. If the developing world is also not rescued, at the same time, the rescued developed economies will have fewer markets to trade with and will result in bringing the situation back to square one. The surpluses that are used to finance the rescue packages may originate in developing countries. If development is to continue, credit has to be restored, financing levels must be maintained or increased and development needs must be kept in mind. Protectionism must not be allowed to raise its head, even for a short while. Burdened as they are by these challenges, there should be a temporary moratorium on the developing countries’ debt repayments which far surpass development assistance.

While we continue to approach the Millennium Development Goals both individually and regionally, the issue of Food Security has come to haunt us. The fifteenth SAARC Summit Declaration paid special importance to this aspect. The South Asian Region has made progress on the implementation of the Colombo Statement on Food Security, including making the SAARC Food Bank a reality. However a broader approach in terms of inter-regional cooperation must be aimed at. We need another green revolution like in the sixties. Science, technology and funding must be combined to avert the threat of any future food shortages.

The issue of climate change has become one of the most serious non-traditional threats to challenge us in recent decades. Climate change is both real and imminent. The worse is yet to come. Most countries will be affected. Drought in some countries, sea level rise causing environmental refugees, glacier melt, insect plagues, drop in fish production, have all been predicted. Modern technology is available to deal with and adapt to climate change. We can all develop while leaving a habitable planet to our children. The developed world that was substantially responsible for causing climate change, must bear a substantial share of the cost of addressing it. But we must all contribute to save the world. They owe a carbon debt to the world. It has been suggested that tropical rain forests be allocated a carbon value for carbon trading purposes. Many tropical developing countries will benefit from this. An effective dialogue is essential to address the challenge. Inter-regional approaches must be designed and implemented with the assistance of multilateral development agencies and relevant international organizations. Growth must be maintained while attaining environment sustainability.

These pressing global challenges continue to remind us in no uncertain terms that our responses within the existing global framework have been less than adequate. Much remains to be done to address these issues and challenges and time has come for broader consensus and approaches to achieve these. Much of the work has to be done by ourselves.

-Sri Lanka Guardian