SAARC connectivity plan to get delayed as Pak backtracks again
Ahead of meetings to set the agenda for the next SAARC summit it hosts, Pakistan has backtracked from an ambitious project for South Asian road connectivity, yet again showing how India-Pakistan cat and mouse game holds up the regional integration blueprint.
Either of the two countries has been backing off from the connectivity plans at crucial junctures. The motor vehicle ( MV) pact would have allowed free movement of vehicles – both passenger and cargo – within the SAARC countries that has India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives and Sri Lanka as members.
From March 14, the SAARC nations are meeting at official as well as ministerial level in Kathmandu to chalk out plans for the next summit of the grouping which will be held in Pakistan. But the MV agreement will not be part of the agenda. Government sources said Pakistan last month communicated to India that it needs some more time, requesting for the postponement of the SAARC transport ministers meeting.
“The sixth meeting of SAARC inter-governmental group of transport was scheduled for February 15-16 in Kathmandu. This was to be followed by the transport ministers meeting. We had given our consent.
But now Pakistan has requested to postpone the meeting. This would further delay the signing of the connectivity pact,” said the source. Pakistan had earlier refused to sign the motor vehicle connectivity at a summit in Kathmandu in November 2014.
Founded in 1985, the eightmember South Asian Association for Regional Corporation remains one of the least integrated groupings in the world. Less than 5% of the region’s global trade takes place among member countries and less than 10% of the region’s commerce is conducted in the Saarc Free Trade Area. “Pakistan’s request for postponement will again hold back new initiatives of the grouping as the forum works with consensus,” an official said.
With Pakistan dilly dallying, India has tapped its eastern neighbours to boost regional connectivity. In June last year, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh (BBIN) signed a landmark agreement that would pave the way for vehicles carrying passenger and cargo to ply in the territory of other country. The BBIN pact is yet to become operational.