A leading English daily of Dhaka 'The Daily Star' has termed the 13th Saarc Summit that concluded in Dhaka on November 13 as "visionary" that has unfurled a new sense of direction.
The daily's editorial said on Monday that the 13th summitry exercise of the Saarc in Dhaka took place at an auspicious stage in the evolution of the regional economic co-operation grouping.
The daily identified a number of aspects that would act as motivational "spring-board from which Saarc takes a new plunge into the new decade. The new surge of terrorism experienced in the region together with the unprecedented catastrophe visiting it in the shape of tsunami and earthquake has instilled a great sense of togetherness in the face of tragic circumstances."
"South Asia rose in unison and stood by each other in an empathetic bond that seemed God-sent. If such motivational flair could not bring them closer together, what else would have" the daily opined.
Pointing to Indo-Pakistan warm political relations, the daily said, "even before the natural disasters hit India and Pakistan, burying their hatchets of rancorous relations, move closer to each other, creating an extended environment within the region that proved congenial to furtherance of the Saarc spirit."
'The Daily Star' said, "It is in this overall light that the forward-looking decisions of the summit documented in the Dhaka Declaration must be viewed, evaluated and greeted for what they are worth."
The daily said the Dhaka Summit declared 2005-15, as the decade of "implementation of the Saarc accords" and "poverty alleviation."
Referring to the achievements of the 13th Saarc summit, the daily said, "A full-fledged Saarc Development Fund as the umbrella financial institution for all Saarc projects and programmes will be set up, which comprise social window, infrastructure window and economic window, with a permanent secretariat."
The daily said, "the Heads of State or Government seem determined to operationlise Safta beginning January 1, 2006. They have decided to take parallel initiatives for dismantling non-tariff and para-tariff barriers with expeditious agreement presaged on mutual recognition of standards, testing and measurements."
The daily hailed the ideas of South Asian energy dialogue process and establishment of regional food bank, a civil society resource centre, and South Asian University.
The daily suggested that the "ratification of Saarc convention relating to trafficking in women and children and promotion of child welfare by all member states must be a permanent regional response mechanism devoted to disaster preparedness, emergency relief and rehabilitation."
'The Daily Star' said, "The crowning aspect of the Declaration, of course, is the concerted commitment to the realisation of the vision for South Asian Economic Union."
"Never before in the history of Saarc has such a high premium been placed as on the implementation of the decisions of the 13th summit," the daily opined.
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