Delhi knocked out over
China By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - India for a long time has
taken for granted its primacy in the Indian
sub-continent comprising Pakistan, Maldives,
Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The
notion was rudely shaken at the 13th South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
summit that concluded this week in Dhaka,
Bangladesh.
Playing the spoiler in the
region (for India, that is) is China, which is
very keen to nose its way into the affairs of the
sub-continent, with other nations willing to play
ball in order to counter New Delhi's perceived
overbearing presence.
Consider how events
unfolded.
On the eve of the summit it was
a foregone conclusion that Afghanistan would
become the eighth member of the SAARC
grouping, a move strongly
backed by Pakistan, before the China factor came
into play. India's Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran
said: "Before we came to Dhaka, we had come
prepared for allowing the membership of
Afghanistan to SAARC ... but there was also
another application, and that from China, to be
associated in some cooperative manner with SAARC."
However, matters took a different turn
when Nepal's King Gyanendra, who is increasingly
leaning on Beijing for moral and logistical
support against the Maoist insurgents and the
pro-democracy movements in his country, linked the
inclusion of Afghanistan to China's application to
be associated with SAARC. This held up the
consensus on Afghanistan for two days before the
final announcement of Kabul's entry. Under the
SAARC charter, new admissions to the regional
grouping require consensus of member states.
It became apparent during the course of
the summit that India was not too keen on an early
entry for China into the seven-nation grouping,
either as an observer or a dialogue partner,
arguing strongly against Beijing's inclusion being
clubbed with Afghanistan. India supports Kabul as
a member of SAARC as it opens a window of
opportunity to minimize the influence of Pakistan
in the affairs of Afghanistan. Failing to find
much support on China, India cited procedural
delays to Beijing being included, saying these
could only be ironed out during a special session
of the standing committee of the organization,
which will be convened early in 2006.
To
India's surprise, the reasoning against an
immediate inclusion of China found support only
from Bhutan, which does not have any diplomatic
relations with Beijing. Perhaps sensing India's
discomfiture on the issue, the five other members
of SAARC, namely Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka, made it apparent that they
preferred China's immediate association.
Given the recent positive engagement
between Thimpu (capital of Bhutan) and Beijing, it
will be a matter of time before Bhutan jumps to
join the chorus favoring China. The writing was
there for New Delhi to see: that the Indian
sub-continent that comprises nations on the south
of the Himalayas will no longer be its own
backyard, with the smaller powers wresting for the
influence of Beijing.
"We have agreed to
induct Afghanistan as a new member. We also
welcome China and Japan as observers since they
have shown interest," Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh said at a news conference at the
conclusion of the summit, setting at rest
uncertainty over Afghanistan's inclusion as well
as over the nature of China's involvement in
SAARC. "Afghanistan is very close to us. It is now
in our group."
Saran later clarified
India's stand, "The standing committee meeting of
the council of ministers of SAARC will finalize
the status of China and Japan while it is now only
for Afghanistan to sign an agreement of the SAARC
charter and join as a member."
Echoing the
views of other member countries, Pakistan Prime
Minister Shaukat Aziz said the inclusion of
Afghanistan would "undoubtedly enrich our
organization and add to its strength". On China,
he said, "We welcome the interest of our friend
and neighbor to be associated with the
organization as an observer or dialogue partner."
It may be recalled that China and Pakistan have
enjoyed close military relations and that China is
often accused of planning Islamabad's nuclear
arsenal.
Aziz later told a Pakistani daily
newspaper that Islamabad would push for full SAARC
membership for China. "If and when the issue of
inducting China as a full member comes up in
SAARC, Pakistan would strongly support it because
it sees the organization as an inclusive one,
which must be strengthened by greater
institutionalization."
Various media
reports have quoted Pakistani officials who have
claimed credit, along with Nepal, for trying to
secure observer status for Beijing and accused
India of "blocking" the move. Giving an indication
of the behind-the-scene parleys, Pakistan Foreign
Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan said a couple of
delegations had raised technical issues to
requests of both Afghanistan and China. Without
naming any country (which everybody knew was
India), Khan said "reservations" were voiced
mainly on account of first settling guidelines for
granting such a status before considering such a
request.
A comment in the Indian Express
newspaper reads: "Chinese interest in South Asian
multilateralism, however, is only the icing on top
of a layered but powerful engagement with the
sub-continent. Like in all its other neighboring
regions, China is keen to deepen its cross-border
economic and transportation links with South Asia.
India can hardly object to that, given China's
long border with the sub-continent. Just as
Beijing cannot stop India from developing abiding
economic and political links with China's
neighbors elsewhere in Asia, Delhi should not
smugly believe it could forever keep China out of
the sub-continent. While India's relations with
each of its South Asian neighbors is weighed down
by a different degree of complexity, China has had
a free hand in expanding economic, political and
military links with them."
Indeed, the
differences over China are a reflection of the
individual distrust that exists between nations,
chiefly India and Pakistan, that has also
prevented substantial economic integration in the
region. It remains to be seen whether the SAARC
nations will be able to iron out differences to
bring into force the South Asian Free Trade Area
(SAFTA) on January 1, despite the pledges at
Dhaka.
"SAARC is mired in conflict, you
cannot deny it," Aziz told a news conference. "The
truth is we need to take issues head-on and come
up with solutions, whether it's Pakistan-India or
any other countries in the region."
Raking
up the bilateral issue of Kashmir, which is
against the multilateral charter of SAARC, Aziz
reiterated: "We must make progress on Kashmir and
then move in parallel on other issues. We do not
subscribe to the view that let's do everything
else and Kashmir will resolve itself. For
sustainable peace, we must address Kashmir."
In response, addressing a news conference,
Manmohan said Pakistan was still not doing enough
to dismantle the terror outfits operating from its
soil. "There has been some reduction. But,
unfortunately, we feel all that needs to be done
has not been done." In a pointed reference to
Pakistan and India's anxiety on the matter,
Manmohan said, "India could choose its friends but
not its neighbors."
On the recent Delhi
triple blasts that killed more than 70 people, he
said "available clues did suggest external
linkages" of the terrorist outfits involved in the
incident. But he refrained from saying anything
substantial since investigations are underway.
"We have to do business with the Pakistan
government," he said. "There is a trust deficit
between the two countries but it's our obligation
to convert it into a surplus. Nothing great is
achieved by using harsh language in full public
glare." Manmohan has also ruled out any
demilitarization or troop-reduction in Indian
Kashmir until cross-border terrorism is stopped.
Siddharth Srivastava is a New
Delhi-based journalist.
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2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.
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