SAFMA Declaration adopted: Formation of South Asian Parliamentary Forum agreed

The Second South Asian Parliament conference concluded here on Sunday with the adoption of the Simla Declaration, agreeing to form a South Asian Parliamentary Forum to move towards realising the dream of a South Asian Parliament.

The two-day conference, organised by the South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA), was participated by parliamentarians representing all major parties from the SAARC countries.

The conference proposed creation of an Intra-Parliamentary Union in South Asia, appointment of an expert group for preparing a comprehensive report and a timeframe to establish South Asian Parliament, activating the SAARC Speakers Forum and holding of annual meeting of parliamentarians to discuss issues of common regional concern.

To implement this, the conference proposed constitution of a commission consisting of MPs from all eight member countries and two experts under the patron-ship of Indian Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

For regional cooperation to transform the region's economic and social conditions, the conference called for evolving a new paradigm of equitable partnership to reshape all-sided relations.

A total of 163 delegates including 83 members of parliament from the region attended the conference.

Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukharjee, who was the chief guest on the concluding day, called for working together to emerge as a major powerhouse of economic creativity and enterprise.

He said it is time for a new vision, a new commitment and a new sense of purpose in South Asia and a collective responsibility of all member states to move towards purposeful cooperation.

Mukharjee said India, as the current chair of SAARC, would focus on improving regional connectivity through upgrading trade, transport and telecommunication links.

SAFMA General Secretary Imtiaz Alam and SAFMA General Secretary, India Vinod Sharma also spoke.

The Bangladesh delegation included former education minister Dr. M. Osman Farruk, former state minister for Foreign Affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury, former MPs Barrister Ziaur Rahman Khan, Musharraf Hossain, Abdus Shahid, Faruque Khan, GM Quader and Principal Ruhul Quddus, and President of SAFMA, Bangladesh Reazuddin Ahmed and General Secretary Zahiduzzaman Faruk, General Secretary of Jatiya Press Club Kamaluddin Shabuj, Special Correspondent of NTV Zahirul Alam and Special Correspondent of ATN Munni Saha.

On the issue of conflict resolution mechanism, the conference said the dialogue between India and Pakistan should be irreversible and must be time-bound and the two countries should begin demilitarisation of Kashmir and redeployment of troops in Siachin.

The border conflicts between Bangladesh and India and over water for 36 years should be resolved, it proposed.

The declaration called for establishing a SAARC Security Forum on the lines of ASEAN Regional Forum.

It recommended taking policy actions including energy cooperation, water management and conservation within South Asia, increased investment for accelerating economic growth, restructuring growth and resource allocation for faster poverty eradication and human resource development and unhindered connectivity and mobility across our borders through trans- regional information highways, motorways, railways and air.

On water management, the declaration called for respecting the treaty on the Ganges between Bangladesh and India and other bilateral treaties. It said the quadrangle of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal may take up an integrated approach to manage water resources while keeping the interests of upper and lower riparian countries.

The Simla Declaration also touched on the implementation of SAFTA agreement, South Asian Customs and Tariffs Union, South Asia Energy Grid, South Asian Development Bank, Information Society, Visa regime, People to people Contact, Tourism, Human security, terrorism, Intrastate conflict and interstate conflicts.

On intrastate conflict, the conference strongly emphasised the principle that there can be no intervention in the internal affairs of any nation in South Asia.

It said the conflict over Kashmir between India and Pakistan need to be resolved peacefully.

The conference said trade and investment will not move ahead unless tariffs are lowered and the negative list is kept to most minimum and non-tariff barriers are removed.

It called for evolving a South Asian Energy Grid with integrated electricity and gas systems and interaction among the policy-makers, parliamentarians, businessmen, media practitioners, professionals, experts, youth and civil society leaders. It underlined the need for removing restrictions on access to and free flow of information and allowing free movement of media persons and products across frontiers.

The declaration urged all SAARC members countries to address long-standing political disputes through peaceful means. It observed that the main obstacle to regional cooperation and economic integration remains political and strategic.

It said given the increasing interdependence among regions, cooperation with neighbouring countries, such as China, Iran and Myanmar and Central Asia, it is an essential future activity for SAARC.

This is the second meeting of its type, the first being held nearly two years ago at Bhurban, Pakistan. The theme of the second conference in the historic city of Simla was "Towards South Asian Unity".

The history of Simla is inextricably inter-twined with the history of freedom of movement of India. The town was the 'summer capital' of British India and the seat of one of the most powerful governments in the world and this is enlivened by stretches of woodland.