Sudden SAARC

India's decision to attend the postponed annual summit of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation SAARC in Dhaka was inevitabl...

India8217;s decision to attend the postponed annual summit of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation SAARC in Dhaka was inevitable. In February, it had expressed its displeasure at the turn of events in Nepal and Bangladesh by refusing to join the conclave. Unhappy about the coup in Nepal by King Gyanendra and upset over the killing of a former finance minister in Bangladesh, India decided to stay away from the deliberations. Despite the intensity of the provocations, New Delhi could not have forever made SAARC hostage to its political differences with its neighbours. After all, India has an independent interest in promoting economic regionalism in the subcontinent.

India8217;s uncompromising stance on Nepal, in order to compel King Gyanendra to restore democracy, received strong support from the United States, Great Britain and the European Union. But New Delhi evidently realised that coercive diplomacy has its limits. Growing concerns about the danger of isolating Nepal for too long had to be taken into account. While India has re-established political contact with the king, which includes the supply of arms, it continues to insist that he must come up with a road map for the restoration of democracy. On Bangladesh, too, India has come to the conclusion that without a political engagement, relations with Dhaka are likely to deteriorate further.

India8217;s reversal of stance would certainly disappoint democratic forces in both Nepal and Bangladesh. While the wisdom of this U-turn will be tested in the coming days, New Delhi could not have let the current drift in its bilateral relations with these two important neighbours undermine the very future of SAARC. Having swallowed the bitter diplomatic pill, India must now focus on two themes in Dhaka 8212; putting India8217;s bilateral relations with Bangladesh back on track and breathing new life into the faltering agenda of South Asian regionalism. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh got a lot of well-deserved credit for taking the initiative on the policy towards Pakistan. He must now show the same political imagination towards Bangladesh and SAARC.