Special Report
SYED QAMAR AFZAL RIZVI
I N the wake of the spreading Corona Virus, the mori bund SAARC forum, the South Asian nations came together for the first time in more than five years last Sunday to discuss the outbreak of the novel Corona Virus and chart a roadmap to prevent it from spreading across the region. The said meeting, held via video conference, was proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Whereas, the Pakistani side was duly represented by Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Health Dr Zafar Mirza. “The threat of #COVID-19 requires coordinated efforts at the global and regional levels. We have communicated that SAPM on Health will be available to participate in the video conference of #SAARC member countries on the issue,” said Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui. Apparently, SouthAsia has so far been relatively less affected by the growing COVID-19 pandemic albeit compared to Europe or East Asia. But experts still fear that inadequate healthcare system, absence of proper health infrastructure and lack of hygiene pose a major risk in the region which is home to about 20% of the world’s population. Some say that the tension between India and Pakistan has had dominated SAARC since its formation in 1985 and played the central role of failing to boost economic growth and collective self-reliance, but truly speaking, it has been the Indian intransigence that remained the root cause of foiling the scope of the SAARC as the pivotal forum to confront the challenges posed to the South Asian nations. SAARC is largely viewed as a failure in extending regional cooperation, the inability to make progress is, in turn, attributed to the unending hostility between India and Pakistan. As forthe SAARC future,the SouthAsian economistscum- political doctors have been fed up with the endless focus on political tension between New Delhi and Islamabad, mostly over Kashmir—thereby doubting that SAARC will ever realise its potential as a trade bloc and an engine of regional growth. SAARC has been largely inactive since a summit that was scheduled to be held in Pakistan in 2016 since then India— has been reluctant to participate in the regional summit by accusing Pakistan-based terrorists forthe Uri attack and consequently but unjustly— it turned its focus on Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoralTechnical andEconomicCooperation (BIMSTEC)to bolster regional cooperation. Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa’s call— to set up a ministerial-level group to share best practices and coordinate regionalmatters on combating COVID-19 –dwindles between hope and despair as some still doubt that his call could yield significant results. But for optimists, if there was ever a reason to work together towards a unified vision, then COVID-19 would be it. Nepal, the current chair of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has pragmatically urged both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint. Whilst managingthe global regime for controllingtheinternational spread of infectious diseases is a central and historical responsibility ofWHO, the International Health Regulations (2005), administered by WHO, provide the legal instrument for doing so. According to the WHO, ‘’These regulations are the onlyinternationally-agreed set of rules governingthetimely and effective response to outbreaks and other health emergencies that may spread beyond the borders of an affected country. Yet less than a third ofWHO Member States meet the minimum requirements for core capacities needed to implement the IHR’’. In line with IHR provisions, affected countries need to report unusual disease events promptly and openly. When they do so, other countries need to stop punishing them by imposing unjustified restrictions on travel and trade. Needless to say, though a promise of financial and technical support is a powerful incentive for early reporting, asindicated by an abundant experiencethat prompt and transparent reporting is compromised when the certainty of economic damage outweighs the prospect of financial and technical support. While addressingthe first-ever video conference among the heads of governments of SAARC member countries, Mr Modi extended $10 million as India’s contribution to fund. “We all agree that we are facing a serious challenge. We do not as yet know what shape the pandemic will take in the coming days. It is clear that we have to work together. In this spirit of collaboration, let me share a few ideas on what India can offer to this joint effort. I propose we create a COVID-19 Emergency Fund which could be based on a voluntary contribution from all of us. India can start with an initial offer of 10 million US dollars for this fund,” said Prime Minister Modi proposing the idea. But at a time when this novel idea of creating a South Asian fund for the prevention of the pandemic, the people of Kashmir cannot be left isolated from the current threatening situation. Therefore, the Pakistani representative rightly and correctly pointed at the reports of COVID-19 from Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir has a large number of pilgrims and students who continue to remain in Iran as India has been carrying out medical tests before evacuating them. According to Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary of Planning Development & Monitoring Department in Jammu and Kashmir Administration, so far, total three positive cases have been reported in IoK. How could Kashmiris handle the Corona Virus challenges where their fundamental rights are blocked.What PM Narendra Modi needs to understand the fact that without taking into confidence the government of Pakistan and the people of Kashmir, this working idea to form the South Asian Control Regime on Corona Virus will lose its validity and futurity. By no means, India should exploit the Charter of the SAARC by arguing that it bars to discuss bilateral issue. Arguably, the pathos of suffering humanity must be taken a high priority over geopoliticalinterests of a nation,thereby manifesting the need of a trans-border South Asian Control Regime on Corona Virus. —The writer, an independent ‘IR’ researcher-cumanalyst based in Pakistan, is member of European Consortium for Political Research Standing Group on IR, Critical Peace & Conflict Studies, also a member of Washington Foreign Law Society and European Society of International Law
