Skip to main content

SAARC and CICA Meetings

Why in News?

Recently, the Foreign Ministers’ meetings of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) took place in a virtual manner.

Points to Remember:-

  • India-Pakistan Tussle:
    • India called the SAARC countries to collectively resolve to defeat the scourge of terrorism, including the forces that nurture, support and encourage an environment of terror and conflict.
      • This was a clear criticism of Pakistan who has been involved in crossborder terrorism.
    • Pakistan also made a detailed statement on the resolution of “long-standing disputes”, a veiled reference to Jammu and Kashmir and India’s move to withdraw Article 370.
    • Background:
      • Recently, India said that the degree of seriousness of each SAARC member-nation in collectively fighting the Covid-19 pandemic can be gauged by their behavior. The statement was in clear reference to Pakistan’s opposition to India’s leadership in dealing with the crisis in the region.
      • The National Security Advisor of India had walked off from a virtual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in September, 2020 after his Pakistani counterpart appeared with a Pakistani version of its map that included Indian territories.
      • In 2019, at the SAARC Foreign Ministers’ meeting, Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan had boycotted each other’s speeches.
      • The Prime Minister of India had also refused to attend the 19th edition of the SAARC summit, due to be held in Islamabad in 2016, over the issue of Pakistan’s continued support to terror groups in light of Uri attacks.
  • Covid-19: All SAARC nations built a common stand on the need to cooperate in battling the coronavirus pandemic.


    • SAARC initiatives to combat Covid-19: SAARC Covid-19 Information Exchange Platform (COINEX), SAARC Food Bank mechanism, SAARC Covid-19 Emergency Fund.
    • India’s Contribution: India has contributed 10 million USD to SAARC Covid-19 Emergency Fund and manufactured essential drugs, Covid protection and testing kits, for countries in the SAARC region (Eg. Operation Sanjeevani for Maldives).
  • Relevance of SAARC: SAARC has not been very effective since 2016 as its biennial summits have not taken place since the last one in Kathmandu (Nepal) in 2014.
    • India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet planned in 2016.
    • The reasons for a dysfunctional SAARC:
      • Bilateral issues cannot be discussed in SAARC but since the organization relies on the principle of unanimity for all major decisions, Pakistan has often vetoed the major initiatives proposed at SAARC. For example, SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement proposed at Kathmandu summit, 2014.
      • India-Pakistan conflict has undermined SAARC. For India, Pakistan’s use of terror as an instrument of foreign policy has made normal business impossible.
      • Dispute between Pakistan and Afghanistan over the Durand line, is also a reason.
      • Also, India’s economic position vis-a vis other SAARC countries, creates an impression of India being a big brother rather than a strategic partner.
      • SAARC has become almost marginal to the regions' collective consciousness and other organizations such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) came into the forefront.
  • CICA Meeting:
    • India underlined its commitment to a pluralistic cooperative security order in Asia through CICA. It also reaffirmed its support for Afghan peace process.
  • About CICA:

    • Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is a multi-national forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.
    • The idea of convening the CICA was first proposed by the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 5th October 1992, at the 47th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
    • The First Ministerial Meeting of CICA took place in September, 1999.
    • It consists of 27 member nations from Asia including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Egypt, India etc. Japan, Indonesia, USA etc. are some of its Observer Nations.
    • Republic of Tajikistan is the CICA Chairman for the period 2018-2020.


Labels:
Location: India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

World Polio Day 2020

  World Polio Day  (October 24) provides an opportunity to highlight global efforts toward a polio-free world and honor the tireless contributions of those on the frontlines in the fight to eradicate polio from every corner of the globe. Through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), CDC works with partners to eradicate polio and end the suffering from this devastating disease. Stopping polio in all forms will require us to be resilient, adapt, and innovate to deliver a polio-free world. Resiliency and Innovation in the Face of Challenges This year the polio program has marked inspiring and important milestones, developments, and challenges for advancing progress toward polio eradication, including: Certification of the African Region as wild poliovirus-free in August Testing and preparation for the introduction of novel oral poliovirus type 2 vaccine (nOPV2), a new tool to stop outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2). Supporting many count...
Post a Comment
Read more

Aquaponics Facility

  Why in News A  pilot ‘Aquaponics facility’  has been developed by the   Centre for Development of Advanced Computing  (C-DAC) , Mohali at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary University (GADVASU), Ludhiana. Key Points State-of-the-art facility:  It is equipped with  advanced sensors  for  monitoring and automated controls  of the farming system. The  supercomputing power being provided by C-DAC  in developing agriculture technology. Funding Support  was provided by  the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology  (Meity). Other Features: The facility is  nearly 100% organic. Needs much less land for a given yield of crop. Consumes 90% less water. The fish and plants grown together are more nutritious. Significance: Demand  for fishes and crops (lettuce, spinach, capsicum, coriander, broccoli and some other leafy plants) is increasing rapidly in urban areas. The  aspirational rural youth will be draw...
1 comment
Read more

Tsunami Early Warning System in India

  Why in News According to experts from the  Indian National Centre for Ocean Information System (INCOIS) , India is much safer against tsunami threats than it was in 2004, due to the establishment of a state-of-the-art tsunami early warning system at INCOIS. Key Points Indian Tsunami Early Warning System: The Indian Tsunami Early Warning System (ITEWS) was  established in 2007  and is based at & operated by INCOIS, Hyderabad. It is an  integrated effort  of different organizations including the Department of Space (DOS), Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Survey of India (SOI) and National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT). ITEWS comprises a  real-time network of seismic stations,  tide gauges and a  24X7 operational tsunami warning centre  to detect tsunamigenic earthquakes, to monitor tsunamis and to provide timely advisories to vulnerable communities. Indian s...
Post a Comment
Read more