European Union needed about half a century, following the devastating and disruptive World War-II, to reach the very high level of integration, signified by the adoption of a single currency by most of its members. The EU member countries had to move forward step by step but resolutely, achieving hierarchical levels of integration. The UK and few other countries have not yet subscribed to the single currency. In the meantime, the Euro has been hailed as "a symbol of European integration in very sense of the word." This remark by the President of the European Central Bank may be interpreted as an articulation of the region's hopes and aspirations that have gone into the shaping of the integration and is also indicative of more efforts to come from all concerned to further cement the Union.

The call made by the Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for establishing a single currency in South Asia is clearly a laudable vision. Indeed, this vision sets a very high goal; and however distant the goal may be, it has the potential of mobilizing opinion and action towards that goal.

Obviously, there will be stumbling blocks and distractions along the way. In this connection, one may note the so far discouraging progress of SAARC, and the insignificant implementation of South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA), which was signed on 11 April 1993in fact, within-SAARC trade of the regional countries remains at about five per cent of the region's total trade, marginally more than the pre-SAPTA level. The achievements at the Islamabad SAARC Summit held in January 2004 are, however, quite inspiring. Among other things, the SAARC social charter was signed and so was South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). If one has to go by the uninspiring progress of SAPTA, one may prognose a similar or even worse fate for SAFTA. Why is it that the level of cooperation remains low in South Asia, despite the establishment of SAARC and reaching various agreements and arrangements for increased cooperation in such aspects as economic (including trade) and social development and control of terrorism and drug and human trafficking?

The fundamental causes that are holding back progress have been succinctly articulated by the Indian Prime Minister when he says "we must take the bold transition from mistrust to trust, from discord to concord and from tension to peace." In this statement he has boldly faced the realities prevailing in South Asia and recognized that the region continues to be plagued by mistrust, discord, and tension. While he calls for the establishment of a single currency in South Asia, which is obviously the pinnacle of a cooperative regime, he makes it clear that to move forward towards that goal, the persistent mistrust, discord, and tension must needs to be removed from inter-state relationships in the region.

However, there is a tendency on the part of some people not to recognize the persisting severe constraints, maybe due to over-enthusiasm or euphemism or expediency on their part. Ignoring those constraints and realities, they tend to engage themselves in discussing proposals relating to certain cooperative arrangements (a single currency, for example) from theoretical or abstract perspective. Indeed, such discussions and research activities have their value. But in order for any discussion and research to be relevant to the context, one must put both the constraintsbe they bilateral or sub-regional or regionaland the visions and missions on the table and work to develop concord among the concerned countries to remove the constraints to achieve progress towards larger and deeper cooperation and an eventual high level of integration. Prime Minister Vajpayee in his above mentioned statement clearly sets out the key gaps to be filled to lay and strengthen the foundation for the edifice of cooperation and integration to be built. If someone traces the history of the evolution of the EU through various stages up to the single currency level, one may draw the lesson that the prevailing and persisting tensions and difficultiesbilateral and multilateralamong the South Asian countries in respect of economic, geographical, water and other issues cannot be ignored; in fact, these problems must be squarely faced and addressed to strengthen the foundation for building a flourishing cooperative regime in the region that will eventually embrace economic and monetary integration with a single currency.

I don't see any short-cut for us in South Asia for jumping to the pinnacle, i.e. to a single currency. We can move forward successfully by building a strong foundation by removing the persisting bilateral, sub-regional, and regional irritants. I strongly believe that a future of South Asia with poverty alleviated, sustained economic vibrancy achieved, environment adequately protected and enhanced, and a strong role for South Asia in the international arena ensured cannot be built without establishing a flourishing cooperative regime in the region. I would urge upon the leaderships of the regional countries to proceed by removing mistrust, discord, and tension by openly and transparently addressing all the bilateral, sub-regional, and regional irritants. We are indeed Bangladeshis, Indians, Nepalese, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Moldavians, or Bhutanesebut we are also South Asians. If we can get out of the prevailing negative mindsets, we can surely build a bright future for all us together. It is crucial that there is political will and action to remove the bottlenecks and build on what has been achieved so far.

Given India's overwhelming size and economic and industrial strength, Prime Minister Vajpayee's announcement of the vision of a single currency in South Asia carries a great deal of weight. One may expect that India will strongly pursue and other regional countries will join in to remove mistrust, discord, and tension among the regional countries by addressing the persisting irritants in a manner that is underpinned by equity and fair play for all.

Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad is President, Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) and Chairman, Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP)