Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani Thursday while assuring Pakistan's full support to make Saarc a more effective organisation emphasised the need for effective implementation of decisions taken in the previous summits.
Addressing the 17th South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation Summit here at Addu Atoll, a small Island of Maldives in its Northern part, prime minister said there is a need to rationalise and consolidate the Saarc activities for the benefit of the people of the region.
He said the gap between the promise of Saarc and reality of its accomplishment needs to be bridged. Referring to the theme of the 17th Saarc Summit, "Building Bridges" the prime minister said, "We should build on convergence, minimise divergences and most of all seek to augment complementarities for the greater good of the people of this region." He said Pakistan attaches high importance to Saarc, adding that the association has come to epitomise the hopes and aspirations of the people of the region for peace, progress and prosperity. He said that South Asia has the potential to become an important engine for global economic growth.
He said it has all the necessary ingredients in terms of human and natural resources to work the economic miracle of this century. Gilani said time has come for Saarc to lead the way in a historic transformation of region utilising its vast capabilities and build on the sure foundations of great civilisation and heritage of the peoples of this region.
He said the theme "building Bridges" reflects common desire for promoting mutual understanding and reaching out to each other to create win-win scenarios. He said it resonates with Saarc's avowed goal to enhance intra-regional connectivity by 2020. The prime minister said, "The cultural affinity among our peoples is a huge asset." He said shared geography and history has culminated in a unique synthesis of culture and traditions. He said in many ways, the South Asia is unique adding "we must place our people at the centre of the Saarc processes."
Gilani said, "We must enable Saarc to capture the imagination of our peoples and contribute to creating strong mutually beneficial bonds as this alone will assure a glorious future of peace and prosperity." He said Building Bridges, the theme of the Saarc is an apt theme to set the future trajectory of Saarc and is an important aspect of the promotion of the spirit of harmony and peace.
The Prime Minister said the Saarc can contribute immensely towards building a trust surplus and is helpful in bridging of differences and resolution of disputes can impart new dynamism to Saarc. Gilani said interfaith and inter-culture harmony must find special emphasis in Saarc's programmes and interactive process in this domain will contribute to reveal the beauty and strength of a true South Asian identity. Referring to the availability of human resources, the Prime Minister said, "We should build on our inherent strengthen and effectively address common issues such as socio-economic disparities, poverty alleviation, food security, energy security, women empowerment, health and education."
He said this requires close co-ordination at national and regional planes by the Saarc members. Referring to the democratic transformation in South Asia, he said, all South Asian states are vibrant democracies. Gilani said, "Pakistan completed its democratic transformation and is now well on its way to realising democracy's dividends by pursuing development at the grass roots level."
The Prime Minister said, "We earnestly hope that old and new democracies in South Asia will join hands to make our region peaceful and prosperous." "We must join hands to strengthen democracy in our region as this was the vision of our leaders, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, and our government is resolutely carrying forward this vision," he added. The prime minister said, "We must strengthen regional co-operation through sharing of experiences, best practices and establishing institutional linkages."
He said economic development and democratic governance are closely linked. He appreciated the Social Charter of Saarc that has established targets for eradication of poverty, population stabilisation and human resource development. Referring to aims and objective of the organisation, the prime minister said the overcharging goals of Saarc are to promote welfare of the people of South Asia and improve their quality of life. The government of Pakistan, he said, has prioritised poverty reduction and has taken major initiatives including social safety nets.
He said Pakistan's Benazir Income Support Programme aimed at not only poverty alleviation but also women empowerment and added that Pakistan would be happy to share its experiences with Saarc in this regard. He said the Saarc members should be given special attention to rural development, expansion of agricultural resource base, development of action plans to combat communicable disease, promotion of greater collaboration in the health sector, elimination of illiteracy, scientific and technological capacity building and further development of information and communication technologies.
Gilani appreciated the establishment of Saarc Development Fund and added that it must be enabled to regional development efforts. He also presented the proposal to establish a regional development bank and urged for closer cooperation in the area of finance and banking in the region. Highlighting the importance of energy, the Prime Minister said economic development in the region is closely linked to the availability of energy at affordable price.
He said with abundant alternate energy resources available in the region, there is need to collectively focus on harnessing indigenous energy production potential such as solar, wind, bio and hydel. "We should also consider arrangements for trans-regional oil and gas pipelines," he added.
The prime minister appreciated the consideration of Saarc Energy Ring by the member states adding that the way forward would be to consider regional framework arrangements on Energy Co-operation. Gilani said climate change is another common challenge confronting the Saarc region and emphasised the need to have concerted and focused attention by the Saarc member states in this regard.
He said "Green South Asia" would be a befitting theme for Saarc to pursue. He said there is need to have a comprehensive region wide approach on water issues including on the issue of glacier melting, watershed management and pollution on an urgent basis.Referring to terrorism, Prime Minister Gilani said, it presents an enormous challenge to the region and the world in all its form and manifestation and extended Pakistan's full support to the efforts under Saarc at enhancing co-operation to eliminate this menace. He said Saarc could also play important role in cataloguing and projecting the region's excellence in arts, crafts and traditions to promote tourism.
Gilani said, "We welcome the interest of extra-regional state and organisations in Saarc and we should give consideration to establishing a dialogue partnership with those interested in an interactive partnership." He said, "We welcome China's interest in Saarc." He thanked and paid gratitude to the government and people of Maldives for their warm and generous hospitality extended to the delegations of Saarc. He congratulated Maldives for adding a historic uniqueness to the grateful by making it a first ever Saarc Summit in the Southern hemisphere.