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CONFERENCE REPORT Building Political and Economic Linkages Between South and Cen- Tral Asia

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CONFERENCE REPORT Building Political and Economic Linkages Between South and Cen- Tral Asia CONFERENCE REPORT Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V. PAKISTAN BABAK KHALATBARI Building Political and Economic December 2008 linkages between South and Cen- www.kas.de/pakistan www.kas.de tral Asia Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Foreign Minister of Pakistan, gave several interviews This paper is the Summing-up Address notice from all over the world and from our at the Concluding session of the con- own country, Pakistan. A distinguished au- ference on “Building Political and Eco- nomic linkages between South and dience has been continuously in attendance Central Asia”, held by Konrad- through all the nine working sessions of this Adenauer-Stiftung and the Institute of Seminar as well as at the Inaugural and Regional Studies on October 21-22, 2008 written by Mr. Ross Masood Concluding Sessions of this two-day meet- Husain. ing, and has exhibited a sustained intellec- tual interest in this special topical and vital issue through a series of lively question – It is now time to bring the proceedings of answer sessions that followed the presenta- this international seminar on “Building Po- tion of papers. litical and Economic Linkages between South Asia and Central Asia” to a close. As Indeed, the seminar generated so much en- your Rapporteur, I have pleasure in pre- thusiasm and heated discussion that the senting a summary of the proceedings of chairmen of working sessions and partici- this Seminar. Several learned papers (to be pants from the audience were tempted to precise) have been presented by a galaxy of make learned comments based on their renowned scholars academics, intellectuals, personal experience or inside knowledge. In leading journalists and policy practitioners this sense, the Seminar has been a re- ,who were all assembled here on a short sounding success. My heartiest facilitations 2 Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V. are due to the President, Institute of Re- picion and distrust between the two main gional Studies, Major General Jamshed Ayaz actors in SAARC, namely India and Paki- PAKISTAN Khan and his team of dedicated men and stan, the role of SAARC has become “mar- DR. KHALATBARI women from the staff of the Institute, and ginalized”, especially in the areas of trade equally to Dr. Babak Khalatbari, Resident and the combating of terrorism. While ad- December 2008 Representative, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung mitting the existence of this “Trust Deficit”, of Germany whose active collaboration many members of the audience felt that www.kas.de/pakistan made this intellectual gathering possible. things were not that bad. People see SAARC www.kas.de according to their own lights. To some A brilliant inaugural address by the Chief SAARC is a puny, even sickly infant, com- Guest, Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, pared to the robust creature that the Euro- Foreign Minister of Pakistan, set the tone of pean Union has over the decades grown the Seminar. The theme of the Seminar was into. For others, it is a backward, handi- neatly structured into a number of sub- capped child compared even with ASEAN. themes, each vital and each topical. Going For still others, it is little more than a poise by the published program, the sub-themes hope wherein the result-oriented pro- covered a broad spectrum of issues--- grammes of meaningful regional coopera- ranging from a strategic appraisal of the tion have yet to emerge. Most felt that the strengths and weaknesses of South Asia to very founding of SAARC and its ability to a similar strategic appraisal of the strengths survive these odd score years without dis- and weaknesses of Central Asia; from an solving into acrimony constituted in itself a analysis of internal dynamics (stabilizing considerable accomplishment---and a re- and destabilizing factors)South Asia to a si- markable one at that, given the volatile na- milar examination of the internal dynamics ture of South Asia’s political equations. of Central Asia; from nuclearization of the subcontinent and its impact on the regional Indeed, the history is replete with instances security to the role of SAARC and the India where its meetings have provided South Pakistan peace process; from identity poli- Asia’s political leader’s opportunities to tics and religious militancy in South Asia to meet discuss and defuse tensions in an in- the politics of religious extremism in Uz- formal environment, free from the con- bekistan and Tajikistan; and from common straining rigidities of official policy and offi- perceptions of linkages between South Asia cial position. The general sense of the and Central Asia to the issues of economic Seminar was that SAARC today is like a cooperation between the two regions, with complex protein molecule. To understand it special emphasis on energy and trade. In- at all, the analyst must break it down into terspersed in between, there were some its component parts and weigh them indi- fine presentations on the European Union’s vidually. Also since SAARC is a process and Resolution on Afghanistan from Pakistani not just an event, it would be more relevant perspective and on the G-8 Initiative on Pa- to evaluate its progress in a long-term con- kistan/Afghanistan. The learned scholars text. offered all kinds of recipes for strengthening the linkages between South Asia and Cen- An entire session was devoted to the India- tral Asia, including a very learned and com- Pakistan peace process the so called com- prehensive paper on ways and means for posite dialogue. It was in this session that improving cultural and economic linkages the audience hears a cry of anguish, a cry between the two regions. of despair, from a daughter of Kashmir, who called for a revival of the traditional trade A detailed reference to some of these issues links between Central Asia and South Asia discussed in the Seminar may not be out of via Kashmir links that had been disrupted place in this brief summing- up. One of the by the current conflict, occupation and divi- first papers presented at the Seminar was sion of Jammu and Kashmir. Regarding the the one related to SAARC. The observations peace process itself, the learned scholars on it were of particular interest. The author spoke of the “trust deficit” between India argued that, because of the continuing sus- and Pakistan, and the need for a strong 3 Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V. popular, conciliatory and decisive leadership be done. I think that I would be reflecting “capable of propelling the talks to their logi- the sentiments of the participants of the PAKISTAN cal conclusion. Many in the audience, how- Seminar by saying that this seminar is a DR. KHALATBARI ever, felt that there was a dilemma for humble contribution towards the achieve- Pakistan in the sense that in this composite ment of these cherished goals. December 2008 dialogue, India held most of the cards both on issues of process (to talk or not to talk) www.kas.de/pakistan and on issues of substance (to give territory www.kas.de or not to give territory). The absence, par- tial if not total, of any meaningful process on even comparatively less contentious is- sues than Jammu and Kashmir, in the com- posite dialogue process (after five rounds) raised a huge question mark over the future of bilateral talks. There were many in the gathering who wondered how long the peace process could sustain without any forward movement on contentious issues and without coming to grips with the core contentious issue of Jammu and Kashmir. The general sense of the Seminar was that of independence of the Central Asian Re- publics came at a crucial moment in the his- tories of South Asia and Central Asia. The historical connection between the two re- gions extends so far back into the past that there is proven evidence of historical routes long before the urban settlements of the Indus Valley civilization of Harrapa and Mo- henjodaro (that themselves are some 5,000 years old). Indeed, the entire ethno-cultural life of the area that comprise the northern parts of the South Asia (including and in particular Pakistan) was molded on the pat- terns of Central Asia. The national dress, cuisine, language and even religious tradi- tions were profoundly influenced by this connection. The cities of Thatta, Multan, La- hore, Peshawer, Muzafferabad and others had direct trade links with Samarkand, Bukhara and other Central Asian cities until the 19th century when the colonization of Central Asia by Czarist Russia and the South Asian subcontinent by Imperial Britain broke the connection and led them to look in dif- ferent directions. The desire to restore and develop this connection is overwhelmingly mutual and spontaneous. Speaker after speaker in the Seminar endorsed the im- perative need for strengthening political, economic, security and cultural links be- tween the two regions and offered their views and opinions on how this could best .
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