Nawaz for soft visa regime

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said his vision for the region was of a ‘dispute-free South Asia’. “We should build on convergences, minimize divergences and most of all, seek to augment complementarities for the greater good of the people of this region,” the Prime Minister said in his address to the 18th summit of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

The summit kicked off yesterday here where leaders of the eight-member SAARC states got together to find ways to make the regional grouping more viable and effective.

The Prime Minister stressed that the gap between the promise of SAARC and reality of its accomplishments needed to be bridged.

He said Pakistan by virtue of its geographic location at the confluence of South Asia, West Asia and Central Asia, was a natural economic corridor for the region. He said promoting regional connectivity was one of the seven pillars of Pakistan’s development strategy.

“My government is actively pursuing this initiative which has the potential to integrate South Asia, China, and Central Asia, the three engines of growth in Asia. A soft visa regime would greatly facilitate the realisation of these objectives,” Sharif said.

Nawaz Sharif underscored the need for investing in youth to unleash their creativity, talent, and enterprise and stressed to strengthen mutual bonds of trust to solve problems.

The Prime Minister said the economic development of South Asia was closely linked to the availability of energy at an affordable price.

“We should build on our inherent strengths and effectively address common issues, such as socio-economic disparities, poverty alleviation, women empowerment, health, and education.”

He, however, said that it needed close coordination at national and regional levels.

The Prime Minister said while pursuing the SAARC socio-economic agenda, there was a need to pay special attention to rural development, expansion of agricultural resource base, development of action plans to combat communicable diseases, greater collaboration in health sector, elimination of illiteracy, scientific and technological capacity-building and development of information and communication technologies.

He said with abundant alternate energy resources available region-wide, there was a need to collectively focus on harnessing indigenous energy production potential.

He proposed arrangements for trans-regional oil and gas pipelines.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan attaches great importance to SAARC as the organisation had come to epitomize the hopes and aspirations of the peoples of this region, for peace, progress and prosperity.

He said having hosted 4th and the 12th SAARC summits; Pakistan will be pleased to offer itself to host the 19th SAARC summit in Islamabad.

He said more than one fifth of the population of the region is between 15-24 years of age - the largest number of youth to ever make transition into adulthood. He, however, regretted that the region accounts for only 6 percent of world’s GDP in purchasing power parity, and only 4 percent share in the world trade, while attracting only 3 percent of global FDI.

“If we look at a region which is home to nearly one quarter of humanity on the planet, it is mired in poverty, disease and illiteracy, with lowest human and social indicators,” he said.

He pointed out that South Asia is one of the least integrated regions in the world.

He said the theme of the 18th SAARC Summit - `Deeper Integration for Peace and Prosperity’ was most appropriate and reflected the common desire for promoting mutual understanding and reaching out to each other, to create a win-win scenario.

Sharif said the cultural affinity among the people of the region was a huge asset and said shared geography and history had culminated in a unique synthesis of cultures and traditions.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said SAARC could contribute immensely towards building a trust surplus among member states and focusing on interfaith and inter-cultural harmony.

He noted with satisfaction that South Asia had undergone a democratic transformation and all South Asian states were vibrant democracies.

He hoped that old and new democracies in South Asia would join hands to make the region peaceful and prosperous and would strengthen regional cooperation through sharing of experiences, best practices and establishing institutional linkages.

The Prime Minister also recalled the havoc caused by the recent monsoon floods in South Asian countries and said it raised the importance of regional cooperation on cross-border information sharing, and early flood forecasting systems.

He said human-induced and natural disasters affect everybody, irrespective of national boundaries and socio-economic status.

He said the Government of Pakistan had recently launched Pakistan Vision 2025, which puts people first in its development equation through prioritising human and social capital, promoting sustainable and inclusive growth, and balanced development.

The Prime Minister also emphasized the importance of the role of the SAARC observers and said it can benefit from its interaction with them.

The Prime Minister congratulated his Nepalese counterpart Sushil Koirala for successfully holding the SAARC summit and on the assumption of the chair of the SAARC Summit.

The Prime Minister acknowledged the President of Maldives Abdulla Yameen, for the outstanding leadership his country had provided to the SAARC process, since the last Summit held in Maldives in 2011. He also thanked the Secretary General Arjun Bahadur Thapa and his team, for their efforts towards preparation of this summit and in promoting the SAARC agenda.

India’s prime minister Narendra Modi in his address said India will give business visa for 3-5 years for SAARC countries.

He stressed establishment of a South Asian University and immediate medical visas for patients from SAARC countries. He said the SAARC countries should use strength of shared heritage and diversity to encourage tourism within the region and present South Asia to the world.

Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid said agricultural growth had helped eradicate abject hunger and poverty. She said Bangladesh had a target to become middle-income country by 2021.

Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa pointed the human rights concerns in South Asia and said human rights is a moral issue, but used as a political tool. He stressed passing an agreement on energy cooperation, focusing on health and sanitation, and mitigating the difference between affluent and poor. Afghanistan’s president Ashraf Ghani emphasized on strong connectivity among the SAARC countries.

Earlier, Nepal’s prime minister Sushil Koirala assumed the chairmanship of the SAARC at the inaugural session. In his address, he stressed the need to jointly combat terrorism, human smuggling and organized crimes. The proposal put forward by SAARC Chairperson Abudlla Yammen Abdul, that Prime Minister Koirala be declared the new SAARC Chairperson, was unanimously passed by the inaugural session of the summit.—APP