The desire to make the SAARC more effective and result oriented to its purpose is growing stronger among the smaller members of the organization, which consider the settlement of the bilateral issues between India and Pakistan necessary to move towards that end.
“That India’s hegemonic mindset was keeping the SAARC in limbo was widely felt”. This impression was drawn from a discussion of a delegation of Nepalese reporters visiting Pakistan. The discussion was held at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) on Tuesday morning, says a press release issued by IPRI. It said that the Nepalese journalists agreed that without the resolution of the Kashmir issue, the regional body could not envisage its ultimate evolution into an economic confederation like European Union.
Briefing the delegation on Pakistan’s position on various national and international issues, IPRI’s Dr Noor ul Haq stressed the need for India to have greater cooperation with the countries of the region instead of cozying up to distant super powers which had their own agendas and were not concerned with the region’s interests. He said that the smaller SAARC nations could use their joint influence on India to resolve its bilateral issues with Pakistan. The Nepalese delegation sought the Pakistani experts’ advice on the form of government Nepal should have after the monarchy as Pakistan had the experience of both parliamentary and presidential systems.
It was suggested that the presidential system could suit the Nepalese since they had a long association with kingship. Answering a question about links between Nepalese Maoists and Indian Naxalites, the Nepalese media delegation claimed that the Nepalese Maoists’ sentiments for Indian Naxalites turned sour when the former opted to have peace with the Nepalese government.
The Indian Naxalites are adamant on having freedom from India. The question whether the Afghan Taliban could be mainstreamed like the Maoists in Nepal was also discussed. The delegation described the various steps taken to induct 6,500 Maoists in Nepal army. The Nepalese media delegation was headed by Federation of Nepali Journalists President Shiva Raj Koirala. Other members included Daily Janadisha Editor Chandra Man Shrestha, The Kathmandu Post Daily Photo Editor Bikas S Rauniar, ABC TV Senior Sub Editor Nirmal Aryal, Jana Aastha National Weekly Assistant Editor Arun Baral and others.
