India says we have already initiated process with Nepal
There was no thaw in the strained Indo-Pak ties at the 18th SAARC summit here on Wednesday with India ruling out any structured meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the summit.
\\On its part, Pakistan stalled the inking of SAARC connectivity agreements, including the Motor Vehicle Pact, saying it was yet to complete its “internal process.”
Pakistan played the spoilsport notwithstanding other countries, including India and Sri lanka, pitching for strengthening the people-to-people contact and movement of goods in the region.
While Pakistan’s blocking of the pacts has “disappointed” India, which had initiated these proposals, sources maintain that India has already initiated bilateral connectivity pacts with countries within SAARC and the Motor Vehicle Agreement with Nepal was an example of that.
Stressing the need for better connectivity in the region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech at the summit said, “Our relations become stronger when we connect the lives of the ordinary citizens of our countries. That is why connectivity and services by rail and road are so important. We should also connect ourselves more by air.”
He further said that, “for India, our vision for the region rests on five pillars: Trade, investment, assistance, cooperation in every area, contacts between our people and, all through seamless connectivity.” Sri lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said better connectivity will help economic integration and will boost people-to-people contact in the region. In her speech at the summit, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said her country was in favour of early signing of the regional motor vehicle and railway agreements and said the pacts will help trade.
On the connectivity pacts, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said these agreements were discussed at various senior levels and there was no objection from any country, but one state has indicated that they need approvals of their internal processes. However, he did not divulge the name of the county.
Noting that SAARC works on the consensus which was a smart and efficient way of working, Akbaruddin said India hopes some “tangible” outcomes as the eight-member bloc has often being accused of not moving fast.
Ahead of the visit by Prime Minister Modi to attend the summit, the Cabinet had cleared the signing and ratifying of the SAARC Motor Vehicles Agreement and SAARC Regional Railways Agreement by India, as a member State of SAARC.
Indicating that the SAARC summit has not help in reducing the strain between the two countries, both India and Pakistan said there was no plan for resumption of the dialogue process. “We don’t have any plan for a structured meeting between our Prime Minister and the Pakistani Prime Minister simply because we have not received a request to that extent,” MEA Spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said here.
He said Prime Minister Modi will have a series of bilateral meetings where he will discuss substantive issues with the SAARC colleagues.”These will be substantive meetings and we will share with you outcomes of these meetings,” he added.
Incidentally, Modi and Nawaz Sharif, who were sitting two seats away from each other, did not look at each other even when Sharif crossed before and after delivering his speech at the summit. leaders of Maldives and Nepal were seated between Modi and Sharif.
Though there is no “structured” meeting scheduled between the two leaders, a brief exchange of pleasantries was expected given that they would be attending the same conference and the retreat on Thursday.
Modi’s official itinerary did not mention any structured meeting with Sharif and only gave details of his meetings with other SAARC heads of Government, including Presidents of Afghanistan, Sri lanka and Maldives as also Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and Bhutan.
At the same time, Pakistan also said it did not see any prospect of having structured talks with India in the near future and made it clear that the ball is in India’s court to initiate dialogue. Pakistan Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz said India had cancelled the Foreign Secretary-level talks and it was for India to initiate talks.
“We are ready for talks with India. But the initiative will have to come from India as they had cancelled the Foreign Secretary-level talks,” he said.
Asked about Modi raising the issue of 26/11, Aziz said it was the 6th anniversary of the attack and that is why the Indian Prime Minister mentioned it.
In his speech, Modi said the pledge taken by SAARC nations to combat terror and transnational crimes should be fulfilled “Today, as we remember the horror of the terror attack in Mumbai in 2008, we feel the endless pain of lost lives. let us work together to fulfil the pledge we have taken to combat terrorism and trans-national crimes,” Modi said.
During his nearly 30-minute speech at the Summit, Modi outlined India’s various initiatives in key sectors of health, science, visa regimes and connectivity for the SAARC region as he pitched to turn South Asia of “flowering hope into a rich field of peace and prosperity” by collective efforts.
He said joint efforts were “more urgent than in South Asia; and nowhere else is it so modest.” Noting that a good neighbourhood is a universal aspiration, Modi said, “If we are sensitive to each other’s security, and the lives of our people, we will deepen friendships, spur cooperation and advance stability in our region.”
Seeking to improve the trade and business atmosphere in the region, the Prime Minister said India will give business visa for 3-5 years for SAARC and proposed to make it even easier through a SAARC Business Traveller Card. He said the South Asia is a region of thriving democracy; of rich inheritance; the unmatched strength of youth; and, a strong thirst for change and progress.