Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, left, and India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Not that it took any particular intelligence on my part but the leaders of the eight South Asian countries during their annual summit meeting pretty much echoed what I wrote yesterday. They all admitted that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) had failed to deliver during the past 25 years and blamed it primarily on the India-Pakistan rivalries.
There is no harm if I delude myself that each one of the eight leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives read my blog before attending the summit. You are quite welcome.
The theme of the 16th SAARC summit was "Towards a Green and Happy South Asia" as a tribute to its host Bhutan’s well known commitment to preserving its environment even if it means less development. Bhutan’s Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigmi Thinley was candid in saying "SAARC's journey has not been one of outstanding success", particularly in the context of its original objectives of fostering economic development in the region as a whole.
"Fractious and quarrelsome neighbors do not make a prosperous community," Tinley said in a barely disguised rebuke to the leaders of the other seven countries.
Quite predictably, the summit was yet again overwhelmed by the meeting between India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yuusaf Raza Gillani. An amusing aside to the meeting was reported by Sarwar Kashani of IANS. It seems Singh and Gilani were practically forced to take a stroll together into a gloriously setting sun over the Bhutanese capital Thimphu at the insistence of the other seven leaders. These leaders reasoned that the two men had to be primed for their crucial meeting Thursday.
SAARC leaders were conscious that the destinies of their countries are inextricably linked to what happens between India and Pakistan.