|
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: PD John, Executive Director,
Date: July 18, 2002,
Time 4:00 PM
trade: key to ending conflict in south asia
Gautam Adhikari, Senior Consultant at the Asian Center for Democratic Governance, during a Symposium on South Asia, July 18, moderated by Congressman
Sherrod Brown of Ohio, pointed out that South Asia is one of the few remaining regions not having a mutual “free trade” arrangement. Nor are nations in the region members of other free trade agreements with the
exception of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This situation could lead to greater trade difficulties for many of the region’s countries and cause greater economic isolation in a world already carved up into many
competing zones. More importantly, the absence of open and free trade robs the region of a useful plank for stabilizing relations among nations. Freer trade among the region’s economies could help create promising
conditions for sustainable peace and stability.
PD John, Executive director of the Policy Institute for Religion and State, sponsor of the Symposium, earlier stressed that trade, while often over looked, is
key to stabilizing the region. While most attention has been centered on nuclear and geo political issues between Pakistan and India, the toughest barrier in successfully eradicating tension between those
countries would be setting up a free trade area.
Panelists included
Dr. Nakadar from Michigan, Dr. Ashutosh Varshney of the South Asia Studies at the University of Michigan, Ambassador (Rtd) Ahmad Tariq Karim and Farrukh Goindi from Pakistan.
The panel agreed that a wide
disparity exists, however, between official attitudes and commercial reality. Numerous studies reveal a volume of trade far in excess of the official total of a couple of hundred million dollars, probably five
or six times as much. Trade between India and Pakistan takes place through three unofficial channels. One is across the border through smuggling; a second is on the high seas, where goods are clandestinely
transferred from ship to ship; and third, through other countries, such as Singapore and some Gulf states. Both governments lose a substantial amount of revenue because this trade bypasses official channels.
There are enough indications that business groups and the middle classes on both sides of the border would like to bypass the standoff in order to develop open commercial relations. But officials in Islamabad and
New Delhi have to overcome time hardened attitudes that are governed more by conventional strategic considerations and an overriding concern to save face than by economic logic.
|
