NEW DELHI: Indian on Monday lashed out at Pakistan for continuing to impede initiatives in the South Asian region under the ambit of the SAARC grouping. In an oblique reference to Islamabad Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said that owing to these obstructions, other regional countries have started finding value in other options like BIMSTEC.
Most of the member countries of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) minus Pakistan and Afghanistan are part of the BIMSTEC (The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation). The Foreign Secretary was referring to Pakistan’s intransigent position on issues like regional connectivity that has made it a sort of a spoilsport in the regional bloc.
Calling it a “damaging approach”, Jaishankar said: “Problem with SAARC is that some basic sort of standards of regional cooperation has to apply. If you say that I will be a regional member but I will not allow regional trade, I will not allow regional connectivity, will not allow regional motorways, I will not allow regional railways, then what is it about?” Jaishankar was referring to the Motor Vehicle Agreement between SAARC nations that would have given cargo and other vehicle hassle free access to the region. The proposal mooted at SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in 2014 was opposed solely by Pakistan.
"You cannot be a member of a region and block every possible regional initiative and still say I am a good member. That sort of approach has to change," Jaishankar said. To counter the obstructionist approach of Islamabad, New Delhi decided to take the issues bilaterally with the member countries.
"If SAARC does not provide them (member countries) an answer, they will settle for sub-regional initiatives and will look at other initiatives like BIMSTEC,” Jaishankar added while delivering a talk on 'India and the Great Powers: Continuity and Change' at the Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA).