Your Excellencies the Honourable Foreign Ministers of the South Asian Countries, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the Republic of Maldives. We are highly privileged that you have chosen this country to hold your second meeting. We see in this gesture a recognition by the governments of the region of the role the Maldives, which has such excellent relations with all member countries, can play in fostering the newly-born South Asian Regional Co-operation. My Government has awaited this occasion with great anticipation; it is indeed an overwhelming fact that this meeting takes place in the name of some 955 million people who live in every environment known to the human race, from the majesty of the snow-capped Himalayas to the far-flung coral islands of our mighty ocean.
Our peoples constitute a wealth of culture which remains their precious heritage and identity. And perhaps of greatest importance is their spiritual conviction and the dignity which flows from it. Which is not to say that our societies are inflexible; indeed in the matter of spiritual commitment the people of our region practise every faith known to the human heart, mind and soul.
As we all know our societies are quite diverse, but their hopes and expectations do not vary. Together, our peoples are sure of themselves, confident of their identities and confident too of their ability to control their own destinies. In this regard they look to their representatives to achieve a nature of national protection and national progress from which all will benefit and in which all will share. This is the most natural of human expectations and those of us who have the privilege to guide the destiny of our nations must, quite essentially, regard it as their paramount task and duty. It is a sacred trust and one we must not betray or abdicate.
The problems that face the countries of the region are both complex and daunting in character. Singular among them is the challenge of social and economic development in the face of continued deterioration of the international economic situation. But it is because the international situation is so desperate that we have a duty to ourselves and to each other to work together in the spirit of regional co-operation. Here, I would like to pay a special tribute to the memory of the late President Zia-Ur-Rahman of Bangladesh for his unfailing devotion, foresight and vision to the concept of South Asian regional co-operation.
Let us recall here that at the conclusion of the First South Asian Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in New Delhi last year, the Ministers signed a Declaration on South Asian Regional Co-operation and formally launched an Integrated Programme of Action. It marked the completion of the preparatory phase and the beginning of a new phase of active implementation of joint programmes in a number of specific areas.
It is my belief that much will depend on the degree and nature of co-operation which we are able to achieve and, certainly, the future well-being of all our peoples can only be improved by a practical application of mutuality and co-operation. The moving spirit and objective, the very principles which gave birth to this association, is that of working together which has as its basic foundation, a promotion of the interests of this region, an essential aspect of which is the maintenance and indeed the strengthening of our peoples’ political, social and economic independence.
In achieving such aims there is no inherent need, no essential requirement, for us to have to be in total agreement on all the policies which attend our respective national conditions and progress. To expect unanimity in all things would be both unrealistic and unproductive. But let us at least work, if not in unison, then in harmony, one with another. It is only then that we can honour the indelible commitment we have to the peoples in whose name we meet and, most important of all set an example which can become our very best inspiration for the potentially difficult future that lies ahead.
Honourable Ministers, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen:
We live in a dangerous and complex world. Indeed, you meet at a particularly dangerous hour.
The continuing and dangerous military rivalry of the East and West threatens the survival of humanity and, what is more significant to those of us in the region, prompts them to seek to engage many in the dangerous game of supremacy. It is a game which knows no rules and which, for those who become subject to it, there can be no lasting or indeed any prize.
It is my belief, however, that we have both a right and a duty to exercise a collective influence in all international forums based on those moderating principles which we hold in common. Indeed, we must take an initiative in carrying out the vital mission of seeking a reduction in the seemingly ever increasing international tension, and do so with courage and with conviction.
The Maldives shares in the widely expressed concern with not only the arms race between the military strengths of the East and West, but also the equally increasing production and sale of weapons of destruction which underwrite many conflicts in the world. We must not be deterred from continuing to emphasize the immorality of mankind’s precious resources being used in the production of weapons of mass destruction at a time when so much of humanity has a dire need for those same resources to be used in the war against poverty and disease the world over. It is not only a political objective but also a moral one that we must never relinquish.
A matter of equal distress, and indeed potential danger, is the fact that to an ever increasing extent the fundamental ethics of the United Nations Charter are being abandoned or ignored under the pretext of the so-called “national security” or “strategic interests”. Here in our own region, we see an escalation of super power military activity in the Indian Ocean. The imminent threat posed by such military rivalry between the big powers to the security and stability of the region prompts me to call once again, as I did at the 7th Non-Aligned Summit in New Delhi last year, on leaders of the countries situated in or bordering on the Indian Ocean to hold urgent consultations in order to embark on a new collective initiative towards making the UN declaration on the Indian Ocean a reality.
There may indeed be different opinions on the mechanics of the establishment of a zone of peace in the Indian Ocean, but its desirability for all of us cannot be in any reasonable doubt. And should doubt exist, then a brief scan of historical precedence, from the classic Trojan horse story of ancient Greece to the most recent events in Grenada, will not only dispel it, but spell out clearly the implications of having within one’s house, invited or otherwise, an alien military influence.
In our efforts to build a better future for our peoples, our respective countries face many similar problems and obstacles. We are confronted with shortages of production and employment, malnourishment, poor health conditions and a too rapid growth of population. Yet there are natural resources in all our countries that have not been utilized to their fullest potential. With better planning, wider exchange of information and technology and a greater degree of co-operation we can certainly make optimum use of our potentials.
But, and as I have remarked to you today, much will depend on the degree and nature of co-operation which we are able to achieve for South Asia. Towards such a desirable end we must not squander the impetus that will surely come from this meeting, for we have much to gain by maintaining it and much to lose should we falter.
Honourable Ministers and Distinguished Delegates:
I note that the issue of arranging for a meeting of the Heads of State or Government of the South Asian countries is on your agenda. Given the critical situation which all the countries in the region currently experience, I take this opportunity in the name of the Government of the Republic of Maldives to call for a speedy convening of a South Asian Summit in order to give South Asian Regional Co-operation the necessary backing at the highest political level. There is no reason for us to delay; indeed an early Summit will not only make possible the fullest political commitment of the countries concerned to the aims and objectives of regional co-operation, but will also provide the opportunity for the leaders of those countries to discuss other matters of particular relevance to the stability and progress of the region as a whole. It is my hope therefore that, as a result of your deliberations here, a meeting of the leaders of our seven countries will be possible in the near future.
SARC is an embodiment of the hopes and aspirations of nearly a billion human beings. They want it to be a forum for solidarity and friendship among the peoples of the region an association for peace, stability and prosperity. I have every confidence, Honourable Ministers and Distinguished Delegates, that you will be equal to the task that lies ahead and that this meeting will mark yet another important step in obtaining the progress and well-being of the peoples of our region.
Having expressed that confidence, I now have the honour to declare open this Second Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the South Asian Countries. On behalf of the people of the Maldives, and indeed in my own name, I wish you success in your high and noble endeavour.