Nearly 30 years after its foundation, there is still a long way to go for Saarc to fulfill its potential to help lift living standards for all the peoples of South Asia.
We welcome the speech by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at this week’s summit in Kathmandu urging Saarc leaders to set aside differences and work collectively to bring prosperity for the people of the region.
As leader of the grouping’s dominant economy, it is important that Indian PM Narendra Modi has also supported similar aims. His observation that India’s huge trade surplus with the rest of the region is “neither right nor sustainable” provides a welcome boost for efforts to ease the bureaucratic hurdles which hinder Saarc from flourishing.
Saarc needs to become far more effective at lowering the barriers that prevent mutual trade and investment from growing in our region. It is vital this summit is followed up by concrete steps to help Bangladesh and other Saarc members grow their exports to India. Non-tariff barriers need to be removed altogether.
Vision is key to helping Saarc achieve its goals. We hope recent talks and interest in major cross-border projects on energy and transport can act as a game changer to boost its mission.
Symbolic steps such as India’s steps to ease business visas also matter.
For Saarc to succeed, our nations should emulate the free and convenient movement of goods and people seen in the European Union. Our region needs both better physical links and more open borders to secure prosperity, stability, and peace.
