SAARC summit salvaged after handshake by Nawaz, Modi

Leaders of the eight Saarc countries signed an agreement to improve cross-border energy trade

NEW DELHI: A brief meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi appears to have salvaged a summit of South Asian leaders, with all eight countries clinching a last-minute deal to create a regional electricity grid.

Nawaz and Modi shook hands at the retreat, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey said, but gave no details. Until that point in the summit, the leaders of the two rivals had cold-shouldered each other.

The prime minister of host country Nepal said the achievements of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) had fallen short of expectations, and urged fellow leaders to "summon the political will" to translate their words into action.

"Despite several transformative potentials in the region, our achievement stands short of expectations," said Sushil Koirala in a speech at the closing ceremony.

"We alone are responsible for shortcomings in the Saarc process."

The leaders had expressed frustration with the slow pace of progress towards greater regional integration since the group first launched nearly three decades ago.

Analysts have blamed Saarc's failure on the mutual mistrust between Pakistan and regional powerhouse India, which has taken a more assertive stance toward its neighbour since the election of a Hindu nationalist government in May.

Modi held formal talks on the two-day summit's sidelines with every Saarc leader except Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Both sides said it was up to the other to request a meeting.

The two countries' leaders shook hands in front of television cameras at the closing ceremony, both grinning warmly.

But the failure to sign two other proposed pacts, on road and rail connectivity, was seen as an indication of the group's limitations.

The leaders only finalised the electricity pact on Thursday, under pressure to avoid what the Times of India newspaper called "another unproductive Saarc summit".

"It's not just Pakistan that plays a spoiler at Saarc summits, India too hasn't taken this regional grouping seriously enough in the past," the paper said in an editorial.

"And other countries may just be tired of endless territorial quarrels between India and Pakistan usurping everything else at Saarc."

Cross-border trade among the eight Saarc nations -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- has grown from under $140 million in 2008 to $878 million in 2012.

But it still accounts for less than five per cent of total commerce in a region where many remain living in poverty.

Nepal's Koirala said there was "no justification" for such deprivation in a region rich in natural resources.

The region's first summit in three years follows some of the worst cross-border violence in Kashmir in a decade, and comes as Nato-led troops prepare to pull out of Afghanistan, intensifying the India-Pakistan rivalry as the countries vie for influence there.

India angrily called off senior-level talks with Pakistan in August after Islamabad's envoy held talks with Hurriyat leaders.

"Nothing is going to change because of speeches by Indian or Pakistani leaders -- it's the same old game, there's a positive-sounding declaration followed by violence followed by a breakdown in talks," the executive chairman of Kathmandu's Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies, Lok Raj Baral, told AFP.

"Whether it concerns trade or terrorism, unless you translate statements into action, there is little point to holding the summit."

The next Saarc summit will be held in Islamabad in 2016, Koirala said.

PM congratulates participants 

PM Nawaz at the concluding ceremony of the Saarc summit congratulated all the participating countries on successful completion of the conference, Radio Pakistan reported.

“Pakistan will be looking forward for the member countries at the 19th Saarc Conference in Islamabad in 2016,” he said.

At the ceremony, the Saarc member countries signed a framework agreement on energy cooperation. From Pakistan’s side, the agreement was signed by Adviser to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.



Pakistan under pressure to save trade agenda

Earlier, South Asian leaders tried to pile pressure on Pakistan to salvage the summit by agreeing to electricity sharing and the free movement of vehicles across borders, measures aimed at boosting trade among nearly a quarter of the world's people.

Hopes of progress at the Saarc meeting hinged on a morning retreat outside the mountain city, where leaders made their case to PM Nawaz.

"It is likely that this matter will come up in the retreat," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin had said, adding that several states were pushing hard for an agreement.

Bangladesh also confirmed a final push to convince Pakistan in time for the summit's closing declaration later in the day.

An official in the Nepali delegation who was privy to the discussions said the focus was on winning support for the electricity pact, which aims to create a seamless power grid across South Asia, one of the world's least integrated regions.

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