EAM's address at the International Conference on Cooperative Development, Peace and Security in South & Central Asia

01/03/2009

Inaugural address by External Affairs Minister
Hon’ble Shri Pranab Mukherjee
at the International Conference on
“Cooperative Development, Peace and Security in South & Central Asia”
(Kolkata, March 01, 2009)

Prof. Pradip Narayan Ghosh, Vice-Chancellor, Jadavpur University,
Shri Rashpal Malhotra, Director General, Centre for Research in Rurual and Industrial Development,
Prof. Jayanta K. Ray, Chairman, Maulana Azad Institute of Asian Studies,
Prof. Hari Vasudevan, Director, Maulana Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Prof. Omprakash Mishra, Member Secretary, Global India Foundation and Pro Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Ambassador P.S.Sahai, Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development,
Mrs. Parbati Sen Vyas, Special Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to deliver this inaugural address at the International Conference on “Cooperative Development, Peace and Security in South and Central Asia”, organized by the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh, The Global India Foundation and the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata. Jadavpur University has very graciously made available the premises for holding the conference. I would also like to acknowledge the presence of the distinguished Indian and foreign participants, who are attending this seminar. I am sure your contributions will be valuable inputs in the deliberations of this conference.

At the outset, let me congratulate the organizers for selecting this critically important theme. If the countries of South Asia form India’s immediate neighbourhood, Central Asia is part of our extended neighbourhood. The region is an enormous landmass. Bonds of geography, history, culture and values tie the peoples of this region together. All through the region, efforts are underway to achieve the common good through greater exchanges at multiple levels – Governmental, Parliamentary, academic, cultural and most importantly at the level of peoples through the promotion of tourism, commerce and cooperation in the field of education. These efforts have to be accelerated for the region to confront its common challenges - poverty alleviation, health, education and industrialization. It is also our firm conviction that internal stability and economic progress in all our neighbouring countries is in India’s interest. It is only through shared economic development that we can achieve our objectives of lasting peace and security.

Growth and development are closely intertwined with peace and security. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru had once said “without peace, all other dreams vanish and are reduced to ashes”. Terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism are posing a serious threat to peace and security in our region, be it India, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan or Tajikistan. The propagation of intolerance and hatred, and the resultant terrorism, is the greatest threat to world peace and security in the post-Cold War era. The terrorist attacks in Mumbai were one more manifestation of terrorism in our region. It is imperative that all governments of the region take urgent, proactive measures to eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations so that these forces do not derail the processes of progress and prosperity. Pakistan in particular should fully cooperate to bring those guilty of the conspiracy behind Mumbai attacks to justice. it is essential that Pakistan takes decisive action to effectively root out terrorism from territories under its control.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me now touch upon some of the overarching complementarities among the countries of this region. Firstly, food security has been recognized as an important challenge for our region and the world. South Asia has some of the most densely populated areas in the world while Central Asia has some very sparsely populated areas. The Conference could look at joint efforts between the countries of this region to bolster mutual goals for their food security.

Secondly, energy security is another big challenge of modern times. The hydropower surplus of Central Asia in summer months fits in smoothly with the shortages in those periods in South Asian states. Of course, the production and transmission capacities would need to be built and feasibility of the investments required would need expert assessment. The Asian Development Bank has done some work in this field. In the area of hydrocarbons, there is a meshing of interests between India and other countries of South Asia as consumers and countries such as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan as suppliers.

Thirdly, India has gained entrepreneurial experience over the years in many areas which are of relevance to the development of Central Asia. These include mining, metallurgy, engineering, automobiles and consumer goods. There have been some success stories of Indian investments in the region in the textile, metals and construction sectors, which could be replicated. Cooperation in such sectors as leather, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, finance, capital markets and services can be explored. Besides, India offers a large market for all our neighbours. We need to identify ways of enhancing trade flows, which depend on physical connectivities, banking linkages, governmental regulation and administrative procedures. It would be in the common interest of all our countries to promote these connectivities and interlinkages amongst us. I hope that you would evaluate opportunities existing for intra-regional trade through expanding transport routes and simplifying transit processes among countries of South and Central Asia.

Lastly, human resource development is vital for the progress of any country. India’s ITEC programme offers short-term training programmes in the fields of IT, management, entrepreneurship, English language, finance and others to about 500 candidates from Central Asia. India has undertaken several small-scale developmental and human resource projects in the region and we would be pleased to further share our knowledge with our neighbors. Several countries in the region have attained notable progress in education and science, and greater cooperation in these areas would be in our common interest. We need to find mechanisms to promote this process through greater exchange of students, scholars and cooperative programmes.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I will now touch upon our relations with individual countries of the region, as also some important regional structures. In South Asia, we have continued to strengthen our bilateral relations with our neighbours. I believe we have been generally successful in this endeavour, with the exception of Pakistan, though we do not, in any way, discount the potential of close and friendly relations with them in future.

We remain committed to support the people and the Government of Nepal in consolidating the democratic transition and in its developmental efforts. With Nepal, we see immense long-term mutual benefits in the areas of greater linkages and connectivity, better border infrastructure and mutually beneficial cooperation in the area of hydro-power. With Sri Lanka, our relations are marked by a broad-based improvement across all sectors including trade and investment, education, tourism and people-to-people exchanges. As regards the ethnic conflict, we believe that the Sri Lankan military success should be quickly followed by a political solution involving a credible devolution that will meet the legitimate aspirations of all communities, including the Tamils, within the framework of a united Sri Lanka. In the interim, we have appealed to the Sri Lankan government to work out appropriate and credible procedures for the evacuation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to safety. We are providing all necessary help including humanitarian relief and medical care.

We welcomed the successful elections in Bangladesh, as a resounding victory of democracy. The people of Bangladesh have given a clear mandate and reposed full faith in the newly elected government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. During my visit to Dhaka last month, I discussed the whole gamut of our bilateral relations, including issues related to security, border management, connectivity and promoting trade, investment and people-to-people level contacts.

We have welcomed the voluntary and peaceful transition to democracy in Bhutan. Our relations with Bhutan are truly a model of bilateral cooperation, which will strengthen even further in the years ahead.

As regards Afghanistan, despite the serious deterioration in the internal security situation, which impinge directly on India, we have continued our reconstruction and development assistance programmes. With over US$ 1.2 billion assistance, we are the 6th largest bilateral donor in that country. I recently inaugurated the Zaranj-Delaram road which will provide better access to the country through Iran.

With Pakistan, notwithstanding important achievements in the Composite Dialogue Process over the last four years, their non-implementation of solemn commitments given to us, i.e., not to permit territory under their control to support terrorism, has placed our dialogue process under stress. Pakistan’s response of February 12, admitting that elements in Pakistan were involved in the Mumbai attacks, is a positive first step. At the same time, they need to do more. The perpetrators of the attacks should be brought to justice and Pakistan must dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism in its territory in order to prevent recurrence of such attacks. Until these actions are taken, the threat of terrorism from Pakistan will remain a major challenge to India and the region. However, I would like to also underline here that we have consciously decided not to discontinue people-to-people level contacts and road and rail links, and have kept open the channel of communication with them.

Coming to Central Asia, I am happy to state that India has excellent relations with all the five countries of the region. Bilateral institutional mechanisms by way of Inter-Governmental Commissions and Foreign Office Consultations exist with all Central Asian countries. Building on our strong historical and civilizational links with these countries, today we have friendly, cooperative and more contemporary ties with them. The importance we attach to Central Asia is reflected in the visit of President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan who was the Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations this year. After the independence of their respective countries, President Nazarbayev and President Karimov of Uzbekistan visited India on their first official visits abroad highlighting the importance attached to India by the Central Asian leadership. Although there has been steady increase in bilateral trade with this region, the volume of trade remains unsatisfactory. There are enormous possibilities for increasing bilateral trade and investments and for greater economic cooperation generally. India’s experience in boosting food production, including milk production and modernizing agro-techniques could also be relevant for Central Asia. Absence of direct surface transportation routes with this landlocked region has been a constraint in further developing economic and trade ties.

Trade through the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas under the framework of International North-South Transport Corridor (set up jointly by India, Russia and Iran) is under discussion. There is air connectivity with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan through direct flights with Indian cities. However, the existing flight connections have the potential for expansion in terms of capacity and frequency. Unfortunately, there is no Indian carrier flying into the region though we are trying to encourage such flights. We also have cooperation with some Central Asian countries in the field of defence, primarily for training of military personnel in India.

At the regional level, regional organizations provide useful structures for promoting joint endeavours. SAARC has made notable progress in bringing South Asian countries together over the last twenty-three years. The SAARC development fund has made a promising beginning. We have agreed on moving towards a South Asian Customs Union and Economic Union; established a SAARC Food Bank; are improving physical connectivity; and are establishing a South Asian university. On their part, the Central Asian countries are working together under the rubric of Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Eurasian Economic Community. The Conference on Interactions and Confidence building measures in Asia (CICA) brings most South and Central Asian countries together into a mechanism for expanding cooperation and development. Thus, requisite institutional structures are in place to give an impetus to cooperation across the region.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In conclusion, I would like to say that secularism and tolerance, which are concomitant with peace and progress of our pluralistic societies, have been the hallmark of South and Central Asia for a long time. These norms and customs have come under considerable pressure from extremist and fundamentalist forces. I believe that apart from the government, scholars and think tanks have a crucial role to play to promote prevalence of reason and rationale over distortion and misinformation undertaken by the negative forces in our region. I am confident that this Conference is a right step in that direction.

I convey my best wishes for the success of this conference. I hope that the participants can make concrete suggestions which could be examined and acted upon by the Governments of India and South and Central Asian countries, as well as by their corporate sectors.

Thank you.

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