SAARC conference boycott

Pakistan believes that while the body remains important for regional cooperation, its secretariat cannot be ignored

Pakistan boycotted Wednesday’s virtual conference of SAARC trade officials, arguing that the meeting had been initiated by India rather than the body’s secretariat. The Foreign Office says that such activities “could only be effective if spearheaded by the SAARC Secretariat” and that for the SAARC process to move forward, “The SAARC Secretariat must be enabled to play its due role in any event or activity being organised under SAARC auspices.” Pakistan also had concerns over the way the Indian PM appeared to be trying to use the previous video conference to portray himself as the regional leader in the fight against coronavirus. The FO was blunt about the fact that, as a founding member of SAARC, Pakistan believes that while the body remains an important platform for regional cooperation, its secretariat cannot be ignored for any initiatives. This includes events like regional and global emergencies such as the global Covid-19 pandemic and the crafting of strategies to address its broader social and economic fallout.

The Wednesday meeting, meanwhile, itself involved senior trade officials from all of the other member states. The members noted that the pandemic would have a considerable adverse impact in terms of international trade, and suggested working on ways to sustain and expand regional trade until normalcy returns to transcontinental trade. “The imperative need to maintain essential trade within the SAARC region was viewed as an important thrust area for favourable consideration,” the Indian external affairs ministry said in a statement regarding the moot. The participants also proposed to remain in close contact on the issue through designated focal persons, with India ‘offering’ to take on a coordination role. A few interesting trade-specific details were also discussed. These included the easing of cross-border trade with proposals such as the provisional clearance of imports at preferential duty rates under suitable conditions. There was also a suggestion to allow provisional acceptance of digitally-signed certificates of origin, and the acceptance of scanned copies of documents for customs clearance of imports and the release of payments by banks.

Pakistan may have missed out on these, but all in all, the decision to sit out appears prudent.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2020.

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