Yet, the inertia of an inactive organisation, which had been originally designed for vigorous action, was also broken by the same leader of India. Aging Prime Minister Vajpayee saw it fit to make a final bid to establish peace with the close neighbour, rival, friend and foe, Pakistan. The Kashmir issue, which marred relations between the two countries from their very inception and caused two all-out wars between them, has always been the most difficult hurdle to scale. The sheer wastage of massive resources by the two countries criminally deprived their peoples of their urgent need for a better life by removing the scourge of poverty, disease, illiteracy and malnutrition. The two countries also developed nuclear power and brought the weapons of mass destruction rattling at the doorsteps of nations of the region, to their utter consternation and fear. This was again done at a staggering cost, which they could ill afford in terms of alternative priority. Was it aimed to marginalise mutual fear of each other or to serve false vanity to become a member of the excusive and prestigious nuclear club? Anyway, the success of the 12th session of the SAARC appears largely due to the offshoot of these two countries' decision in favour of creating a thaw in their relations.

The SAARC session accomplished some of its cherished objectives. It has brought about realisation of some of the dreams of its founding fathers and success of the relentless efforts of its present leaders. The very fact that it took place in time with full attendance of its leaders can itself be recognised as a great success. The concrete results produced by them, as reflected in the Islamabad Declaration, are a source of great inspiration and hope for the people of the region. And finally, the long expected atmosphere of cordiality, good neighbourly relations and the spirit of camaraderie that pervaded the conference became a matter of deep satisfaction for all concerned. The next step would be to use the SAARC machinery as an important instrument for negotiations with other groups of countries and international institutions in the present world of economic globalisation.

The organisation of the SAARC, a brainchild of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh and fruits of common hopes and joint endeavours of leaders of all the seven member countries, was set up primarily to deliberate on non-contentional issues, thereby paving the way to forging cooperation among member nations in the economic, commercial, industrial, technical, social and all other possible fields. The conclusion of a Treaty on SAFTA, with the pledge of establishing a free trade zone in the region by January 2006, helped implement an important programme of the envisaged cooperation. It was, indeed, a great achievement of the conference. The special measures to be taken to safeguard interests of the four least developed member nations of the group will provide a degree of common playing field for all members of the SAFTA. It will, no doubt, remove, in a substantial manner, suspicions and shortcomings of its less affluent members. The role of Bangladesh as leader of the Least Developed Countries to promote their interests is praiseworthy. Nevertheless, the decision of establishing a free trade area will have to be followed up by agreements on measures for its implementation. This will call for tough negotiations and members have to be prepared for it in due course.

The decision of taking various steps towards poverty reduction is evidently a highly desired one. It is obvious that all actions in developing cooperation among countries of the region ultimately devolve in the task of eliminating poverty and providing the people a better life. The creation of a Social Charter for the member countries is also a welcome step taken at the conference. The resolve for determined action against terrorism, security concern of small states and other measures of cooperation constituted other highlights of the conference. The addresses of Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, in particular her invitation to hold the next conference in Dhaka, were endorsed with appreciation. But the other big achievement of the conference took place outside the ambit of the conference itself, as its offshoot, in the political field.

The SAARC Charter deliberately and carefully avoided the provision of deliberation on political and disputed issues among member states. The reason was to prevent avoidable debates on such issues that might not only hinder the purposes and objectives of the SAARC but might jeopardise its very existence itself. This is also the practice of the Commonwealth and some other conferences, though not of the United Nations which can endure anything and everything, except perhaps the mandate or agenda of some of its permanent members.

Anyway, the meeting between President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee of India took the limelight away from the conference, albeit briefly, during the currency of the conference. The outcome was enormously positive. The two leaders not only decided to meet in February to discuss bilateral issues but agreed to include Kashmir on the agenda. It was a big, a very big, step forward. Whether it will resolve the dispute or not on this vexed issue is a moot question. Political observers are, however, cautious in predicting a positive outcome. But given goodwill, sincerity of purpose and statesmanship, a miracle can happen. To achieve a positive result, both sides must be reasonable, appreciative of each other's susceptibilities and accommodative in spirit. They must be pragmatic. They must dwell on those aspects of the issue on which some progress could be envisaged, leaving the difficult principled stands aside. The latter may be taken up as and when possible. That way and only that way the people of South Asia would be able to witness and enjoy the much-awaited peace, progress and cooperation among themselves.

M.M.Rezaul Karim, a former Ambassador, is a member of BNP's Advisory Council.