rajeev@sfmag.UUCP (S.Rajeev) (12/25/85)
From "The Economist", December 21, 1985: (Quoted without permission)
"Filling A Gap:
Although the tensions between India and Pakistan have not been magically
wiped away, Mr Rajiv Gandhi and President Zia ul Haq were able to meet in
Delhi on December 17th as partners in a common enterprise. On December 8th
they had helped to create the seven-member South Asian Association for
Regional Co-operation (SARC).
What had been a conspicuous gap on any map of the world's regional
groupings - between the south-east Asian one and those of African and Arab
states - was filled with the birth of the new association. ... the
presidents of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, the
kings of Bhutan and Nepal and the Prime Minister of India ... agreed to
hold summits annually. And the choice of Delhi as the site for nex year's
summit suggested that the smaller states had mastered their fears of
India's predominance.
... the agreement reached ... to set up a group to study "the problem of
terrorism" may offer a way of cooling two particularly heated issues:
Indians' fears about Sikh extremists getting help from Pakistan, and Sri
Lankans' fears about Tamil guerrillas getting help from India.
Little was said ... about trade, but ... the question had been raised ...
This will be a delicate task, as most of the member states fear that any
move towards free trade would mean facing more competition from India than
their economies could stand. But meanwhile the joint handling of some
economic matters through the new association could enable Bhutan, the
Maldives and Nepal, India's three smallest neighbours, to avoid
the embarrassment of looking and feeling like its client states.
Of course, much will depend on the Indian government's continuing
readiness to act with restraint in SARC. Of the member states' combined
population of around a billion, India contributes three-quarters; and
India is involved in an even higher proportion of the current disputes
among them. So far, an admirable restraint has been shown by the
Indians generally and by Mr Rajiv Gandhi personally. That has been
an essential factor in the creation of the new grouping -- which may
prove a valuable tool for stability in a troubled region."
[End of quote]
Certainly an auspicious beginning ...
Sri Rajeev. (ihnp4!attunix!rajeev)
[My opinions are not necessarily those of AT&T.]