Unity in diversity

Limits to SAARC solidarity on a WTO round

It would be an exaggeration to suggest that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has arrived at a common position on the subject of whether there should be a new round of multilateral trade negotiations under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation. It is certainly the case that SAARC put up a common front of sorts and has expressed similar concerns about the unequal nature of the existing multilateral trading system. It is probably also true that if the United States, Japan and the European Union become excessively aggressive in pushing their agendas, completely ignoring the concerns of the developing world, then a more solid unity will be forged not just among SAARC members but also other “like-minded” and developing countries. That is in the future. As of now, it is necessary to get a reality check on what happened at the SAARC commerce ministers and secretaries meeting in New Delhi last week.

To begin with, Bangladesh did not turn up for the meeting. This could be because the country is preparing for a general election and the caretaker government may not have a view on so important an issue as WTO policy. Even if Bangladesh had been represented at the meeting, it is not clear if it would have supported the Indian and Pakistani hardline against a new round. Bangladesh has been carving out a niche of its own, as a leader of the so-called “least developed countries”, and has actually welcomed a new round. It is unlikely that Bangladesh would have changed its views in the interests of SAARC solidarity. Pakistan presents an interesting case. In Geneva, its WTO representative Munir Akram has been a vocal and radical voice against a new round. He speaks with even greater gusto than India’s diminutive Ambassador Narayanan. But at the New Delhi meeting, the Pakistan commerce minister Abdul Razak Dawood qualified his opposition to a new round with the proviso that if the US and EU agreed to a “limited agenda”, then Pakistan would support a new round. Presently in the grip of an IMF loan programme and with both its mentors, the US and China, favouring a new round, it is unlikely that Pakistan can hold out if adequate pressure is brought on it, as indeed it would be. Clearly, there are limits to the unity that can be forged within SAARC, with such diversity.