Islamabad, Jan 04: Differences in approaches of
India and Pakistan were evident today as Saarc countries
expressed concern over the regional-bloc not having achieved
its full potential and called for greater economic
co-operation for poverty alleviation.
The landmark 12th summit of the association opened
with a call from Pakistan for overcoming of political
differences for economic growth in the south Asian region.
Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, in his
inaugural address, emphasised that political disputes needed
to be addressed "in a just and realistic manner" failing which
ideas like a common economic and monetary union would remain a
distant dream.
Taking a line which was in variance with that of
Jamali, Vajpayee however said that development of greater
economic stakes would "naturally result in greater sensitivity
to the concerns of each other".
This would pave the way for "the more ambitious, but
entirely achievable" goals such as free trade area, an
economic union and open borders and a common currency for the
region, he said.
Bhutanese premier Lyonpo Jigmi Y Thinley said Saarc
had reached a plateau as "problems and intended solutions come
to us with a sense of 'deja vu'.
He described economic cooperation as the core basis of
Saarc and hoped work on various components of the proposed
free trade area will be completed at the earliest possible".
Bureau Report
