Mr. Chairman, Your Majesties, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is with a feeling of both satisfaction and pride that I address the first summit meeting of South Asian countries.
Satisfaction because the very fact that we are assembled here is tangible evidence of our collective sense of direction and yet further evidence of our essential unity. Pride because this occasion is proof that we do, on an individual basis, look beyond our own borders and shores towards the wider good of the region; that our legitimate sense of national pride, while being an intrinsic part of our attitudes and policies, can in so many crucially important areas be subordinate to the commonweal. This fact alone promises much for the future.
Mr. Chairman:
We, the heads of state and government of the seven South Asian nations, have come to Dhaka on a historic mission. We have come here to formally establish an association for regional co-operation among our countries. We have come here to give our full backing at the highest political level to the regional framework that we have been in the process of creating for the past five years.
It is no coincidence that we are holding the first ever summit meeting of the South Asian countries in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. For it was from this land of great cultural and historical wealth that the call for the creation of an organisation for South Asian Co-operation first originated. That call was made by the late President Ziaur Rahman who also wanted to convene a summit meeting of our seven countries for this important purpose. Though that had not been possible before his untimely and tragic death, our meeting here today will go down as a lasting tribute to that great South Asian leader.
South Asian Regional Co-operation is for the Maldives, and always has been since its inception, a concept of special attraction to which we have given and will continue to give tremendous importance. Our commitment to the concept of South Asian Co-operation will be total, and our adherence to its ideals and objectives complete.
We are confident that regional co-operation can play a major role in the social and economic development of the peoples of the region and in the preservation of peace and security among member states. It can also serve as a vehicle for extending friendship and co-operation between our respective countries and the outside world.
We know that much will depend on the success of this meeting. Its success will, in turn, depend on the quality of the resolve which we, both singularly and collectively, bring to bear on those matters which we are to discuss here. That our resolve will be equal to those issues I have no doubt and that, accordingly, the message we send forth from Dhaka will signal to the world our concerns and priorities and, of greater importance still, our will and determination to see them given strength and influence in the wider international community.
Mr. Chairman:
Interdependence between nations has become a reality recognised by virtually every Government in every land and in all the regions of the globe. The EEC and ASEAN, to name just two, are regional organisations which have in recent years illustrated what interdependence can achieve in terms of political stability and social and economic development. Upto now, we have been one of the few regions in the world that have not formally established a framework for regional co-operation. We have come here, Mr. Chairman, to take that important step.
I think we can be proud of the way that all our countries have worked in recent years to prepare the ground for the formal launching of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation. We have carefully studied and identified the areas of co-operation among the seven nations of South Asia, and have agreed on modalities for such co-operation. We have also evolved mechanisms at various levels that can plan, implement and monitor aspects of co-operation among us.
These efforts had led to the launching of the Integrated Plan of Action in 1983 which has laid a sound foundation for regional co-operation among our countries in a number of crucial areas. The Maldives is happy with the steady progress that has been achieved in the implementation of the Integrated Plan of Action. It is our sincere hope that as a result of this meeting progress will be accelerated in attaining the goals of the Plan and that the areas of co-operation will be further expanded to include other important aspects that are vital to our development.
We have now arrived at a juncture in the process of regional co-operation, Mr. Chairman, that the formal establishment of an association for this purpose among the seven nations represented here has become the next logical step. Is not this in itself, Mr. Chairman, a cause for just inspiration and for an unlimited promise for the future?
The Charter that we are going to sign and the Declaration that we are going to issue here at Dhaka will embody the principles and ideals that we have agreed shall guide our collective work in the field of regional co-operation. Those principles and ideals are the finest that any such organisation can have. It is our duty to see that they are fully respected and adhered to. And if we have the will and the resolve to confront collectively, and in the spirit of those principles and ideals the wide-ranging challenges that face us, it will certainly be possible for us to overcome those challenges and to demonstrate that with unity of purpose all things are possible, but nothing without it.
We have made an important start, Mr. Chairman. We are here.
That making headway may be slow, I do not deny. That there will be legitimate differences of opinion in the direction that our progress should take, I fully accept. We are, after all, human, but we are also full of spirit and human will and our priorities of uplifting our peoples are of the finest. Our instincts in forming a framework for regional co-operation were and are right.
The association was once described as a “poor man’s club.”
My reaction to that is simple and direct. The person who wrote it indeed knows the price of everything, but the value of nothing. Our values in coming together constitute an investment in our future which, if applied with will and consistent effort, can pay our respective peoples great dividends in the years that lie ahead. For, Mr. Chairman, we are, in all matters essential, anything but poor. Collectively, we represent a storehouse of cultural, spiritual and intellectual wealth.
Look around this chamber, Mr. Chairman, and you will see gathered here representatives of peoples of diverse backgrounds, who inhabit all types of terrain, practice virtually all spiritual faiths and who operate a lexicon of social and political systems. Yet within the global context we all come from just one geographical region – South Asia. There are times when it may not be apparent even to ourselves, but we have much from which the world beyond has much to learn.
This is not an assumption based on any degree of arrogance, but a simple truth and one from which we can all take renewed pride and confidence. It is not about believing in what is possible, it is knowing what can be done. It is not about dreaming of a better future, but about making it happen. And perhaps, above all else, it is about recognising our strengths and our wealth, and by applying the two in tandem and moving forward together.
The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation can, Mr. Chairman, be our instrument for the promotion of peace, progress and stability in this part of the world. It can also enhance our sovereignty and foster peace, freedom and social justice among member states. It will, above all, be a framework for the promotion of the welfare and prosperity of our peoples and the improvement of their quality of life.
These are goals of high merit and in themselves an inspiration. Let them indeed be the spur to our mutual progress and our common destiny.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.