As we celebrate the 80th birth anniversary of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, it may be worth recalling how India's youngest ever PM's highly successful foreign policy ensured peace and stability in South Asia, indeed in the whole of Asia, and especially India's neighbourhood.
It was four decades ago, and beginning of Gandhi's second year as Prime Minister, that the first summit of SAARC (South Asian Association Regional Cooperation) was held in Dhaka on December 7 and 8, 1985. The idea of SAARC was originally mooted by Bangladesh in April 1981 at a meeting of Foreign Ministers at Colombo. The first SAARC summit declaration was signed by Gandhi, President Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan, President Hussain Ershad of Bangladesh, President J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan, King Birendra Shah of Nepal and President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom of the Maldives. And so, as Wajahat Habibullah writes in his must-read book, My Years With Rajiv - Triumph And Tragedy, a tenuous economic union was born in a strife-ridden region that, with the acquisition of nuclear weapons before the close of the century, was to begin to be looked upon as the most dangerous place on earth.
Right from the beginning it was mutually agreed upon that the Saarc would focus on areas of potential multilateral cooperation and would keep contentious bilateral issues off the agenda. Hence, Gandhi avoided reference to any such issues and set an example by mentioning only subjects that were of common concern. Speaking at the inauguration of the Saarc (then Sarc) summit, the former Indian PM stated, 'The model we have evolved for ourselves is a model which is in accord with our realities, our compulsions and our genius. We have not sought to melt our bilateral relationships into a common regional identity, but rather to fit South Asian cooperation into our respective foreign policies as an additional dimension... we have evolved modalities which do not allow bilateral stresses and strains to impinge on regional cooperation.”
He laid emphasis on the need to fight the most pressing problems: “All seven of us continue to be confronted with formidable problems of poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and disease.” The success of the Saarc, he stressed, would depend on the involvement of people in their hundreds of millions, and warned, “Prevaling tensions and the continuing nuclear arms race pose a serious threat to our progress and prosperity. We must remain outside the vortex of these tensions and conflicts.” When the next Saarc Summit was held in Bangalore in 1986, it was Gandhi as the Prime Minister of the host country who presided over it. The most far reaching decision that was taken under his chairmanship was the setting up of a Saarc secretariat at Kathmandu where foreign ministers of member countries meet every year with Nepal playing the host country.
The last Saarc Summit which Gandhi addressed was at Islamabad on December 29 -31, 1988. By this time, Benazir Bhutto had been elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. While flagging the problem of poverty in the South Asian region, Gandhi in his inaugural speech, laid great stress on expanding trade and economic cooperation, promoting sports and culture activities and protection and preservation of environment. In his concluding remarks, he emphatically spoke of the girl child, thus perhaps becoming the first statesman to do so. “The oppression and suppression of women, cruel and inhuman in itself, is depriving our societies of half their natural strength. It is morally incumbent upon us to end all discrimination against women, to give them every opportunity for education, employment, self- development and independence. This work has to begin with the girl child. The girl child who is given a good start in life will grow into a woman honoured and respected for all she can contribute to nation building. We need practical programmes of far reaching import to achieve this. Nothing less will do,” he said.
The Indian Prime Minister appealed to all the countries of the region to make South Asian cooperation “a people's movement by evolving and implementing programmes which tangibly impinge upon the concerns and well- being of our peoples.” This, and more, was carried forward by the Prime Ministers who succeeded him – P.V. Narasimha Rao, A.B. Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh. But with the coming of PM Narendera Modi in 2014, the foundations of regional cooperation that were laid down by the visionary leaders of South Asia in 1985 have been virtually destroyed. No meeting of Saarc has taken place since 2016, and the dream of South Asian cooperation lies shattered.
It may be befitting to conclude this essay by recalling the tribute of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan to Gandhi after his heartbreaking assassination in May 1991: “The statesmanship which marked Rajiv Gandhi's initiatives in relations between the super powers, as well as in the affairs of the Non-Aligned Movement, was also manifested in the manner in which he conducted his relations with her South Asian neighbours. Both in his bilateral meetings, as also through Saarc, he constantly sought to project the image of India as a friend and partner of all the countries of South Asia.” Let us hope the Modi government has the common sense to revive this partnership, which will benefit India the most and enhance its image among the countries of South Asia and beyond.
The author is an ex Army officer, a columnist and author of Freedom Struggle and Beyond
