SAARC Summit-Cartoon

SAARC Summit-Cartoon

What to say about the two most powerful leaders associated with the SAARC summit who went there with an aim of maintaining mutual cooperation made a big news for what..." shaking hands".....what a fun....I wonder what conversation or dialogue there had been when even a hand shake could be possible only at the closing ceremony....18th SAARC shows how nothing has changed for this org since its proclamation...In brief, I think it is desirable to change its name to SAO, south Asian organization or SAAGAR, south Asian association for grievance and redressal ..... . The really surprising part is that, instead of taking cognizance of such a funny contradiction, our virulent media celebrated the hand shake as "melting of ice" between two PMs who refused to acknowledge each other or make even an eye contact. They were more cautious of not showing any sort of conviviality which, in their respective countries, might be seen as a sign of conceding.....It's now time for them to stop playing to the galleries and realize the importance of their role in south Asia.

What I tried to portray in the cartoon is that there should be a mutual understanding and coordination among the two most powerful countries in the region towards the very purpose of SAARC. Not that Iam against the SAARC and its objectives. By keeping a feeling of revulsion towards one another and thereby exhibiting such open display of hostility in an international forum will not yield any substantial result in the very cause the organization is created upon. Here nobody is pointing out any problem with the very purpose the organization was constituted though. But I’am really sorry to say that nothing fundamental has changed for this organization in the years since the international conference adopted the declaration of SAARC and formally launched its IPA. There are various ongoing conflicts in the region. Emphasis was also laid upon greater cooperation between SAARC members to fight terrorism as well. But Iam afraid whether the SAARC has contributed in any way to make the lives of the people in the region better.... Has it ensured a regular interaction among its leaders at all? We do need to ponder over these issues asp. Do we have the guts to say what SAARC charter has explained via “objectives of the peace, freedom, social justice and economic prosperity are best achieved in the south Asian region by fostering mutual understanding, good neighborly relations and meaningful cooperation among member states" fully met? The naked truth is that, SAARC, even after so many years of its proclamation has been a "non-starter" so far. Neither the intra-regional investment flow nor the level of trade among SAARC countries has seen any significant improvement, just because of SAARC. Though a few useful agreements were signed, theirs implementation has left much to be desired. As long as the relations between the two most powerful countries of SAARC are strained, it will not meet the expectations it has generated. What is required is to operationalise those several agreements signed earlier for various purposes and approach the issues with a positive frame of mind. Otherwise it will lose its direction by getting involved in such loathing among each other……..