Click to play videoNew Delhi: At the 14th SAARC summit Kashmir did not figure for a change but terrorism did, however, the issue was not brought up India and Pakistan.
The two Prime Ministers couldn't have more closely scripted their speeches for SAARC. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke of connectivity while his counterpart Shaukat Aziz spoke of improving trade.
“India has decided with immediate effect to unilaterally provide visas to students, researchers, teachers, journalists and patients of the SAARC countries,” said Manmohan Singh.
Although, after the speech Aziz stuck to the older script.
“The key dispute is the Kashmir dispute, which we want settled in line with the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people,” Aziz said.
Terrorism has always been an important issue for SAARC. But what made this summit different from previous ones is that it was Afghanistan and Sri Lanka who brought the issue up and asked for tough measures rather than India and Pakistan.
Karzai led the attack and blamed Pakistan in not so many words. “Terrorism plagued Afghanistan with detrimental consequences for all of us in the region and the international community,” Karzai said with Sri Lanka suffering from its own strife backing him up.
The parameters may have changed but SAARC remains boxed in by intra-regional rivalries with even leaders agreeing that it was time for more concerted action and less talk.
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