JRJ’s SAARC Summit speeches

(Excerpted from Men And Memories by JR Jayewardene)

At the Third SAARC Summit Meeting in Nepal on November 2-4, 1987, 1 had called for going “full sail ahead” with the King of Nepal in the host’s chair. I said:

“As we all know, regionalism in South Asia has had a late beginning. One of the remarkable developments since the Second World War has been the spread of regionalism, manifested in the setting up of regional organizations which have to cover most of the globe. The fact that SAARC came to be formed so late has been explained by the disparities and imbalances within our region. Nevertheless, there is at the same time, an underlying homogeneity among South Asian countries, on which we hope to build an enduring regionalism for the common benefit of all of us.

“We have to recognize the fact that whether we make a success of SAARC or not, (???) will have to depend on the extent to which we can confront and solve bilateral may have between us. We have also to recognize the fact that our internal problems sometimes have an external dimension, for instance, by causing a spill-over effect in a neighbouring country. And we have furthermore realize that our bilateral problems could have effect on the region as a whole to the detriment of all of us.

“Your Majesty, Sri Lanka’s separatist problem provides a convincing illustration in support of the generalized observations that I have been making. For several years Sri Lanka has been struggling with the problems caused by a group of terrorists who have used the separatist problem to seize power. For several years my government has tried to solve the separatist problem through the good offices of India. In July this year we concluded a Peace Agreement under which India will assist Sri Lanka in settling this separatist problem.

“At the same time, we have established the basis for the conduct of our foreign relations on the principle that nothing would be done by either that could be detrimental to the other in any way. This has to be regarded as an unexceptionable principle, and indeed a prerequisite for good neighbourly relations. The Peace Agreement demonstrates the importance of not confronting each other but of confronting our bilateral problems together. Above all, it demonstrates the importance of our engaging in consultation as frequently as possible.

“We have also demonstrated how we can help each other in times of distress and emergency through the establishment of the South Asian Food Security Reserve, which is a further example of our sense of brotherhood and willingness to help each other. Still we are a long way from resolving our own economic problems. We have not been able to promote trade among countries of our region, and it is ironic that in each of our countries the volume of our trade with other member countries does not exceed five per cent of our trade

“We are meeting under the shadow of the most majestic mountain range on Earth, from where arise mighty flowing rivers into the plains of this great sub-continent giving sustenance and life to the people who live here. Physically we cannot climb higher than Mount Everest which we in front of us. Mentally our minds can soar even higher than these mighty mountains. It can also soar above jealousies, intrigues and the ambitions of man. Even a sunbeam from these heights illuminate us in wisdom and elevate our thoughts towards purity and compassion.

“Mr Chairman, from Dhaka to Bangalore and to Kathmandu, we have come a long way in a relatively short period of time. At Dhaka the SAARC ship set sail; in Bangalore, we found we were away out in the open sea, and here in Kathmandu, I am happy to state that we are firmly on course and proceeding full sail ahead.

At the concluding session of the third SAARC Summit at Kathmandu, I had tried to underline Democracy. Following were my thoughts and words:

“When I came here I knew that Nepal was a part of the area in which Gautama the Buddha was born, lived and preached for over 50 years. He walked all the way from Lumbini to Buddha Gaya, up and down the Gangetic Plain, and passed away at Kusinara, where the Mallas lived. The Mallas are still in Nepal. They lived in the area around the Palace Complex, and their leaders lived in some of the places we visited yesterday.

“The Mallas were democratic people, and so were the Lichchavis who also lived in Nepal till some time ago. During the time of the Buddha they were the republics of the Gangetic Plain. To them, he preached the doctrine of democracy. When they came and asked him; what they were to do if attacked, he replied; “Do your assemblies meet often? Do they follow the rules of procedure? Do they respect their elders? Do they follow the laws of the country?” The reply was “Yes”. Then he said, “Oh, Lichchavis, Mallas, then you cannot be defeated”. That is the message of the Gangetic plain; the message of democracy; the freedom of the people.

The other message he preached was also of love. That is also the message of the Gangetic plain. was this period of history, the sixth century before Christ, that H.G. Wells said, “saw the adolescence of the human race”; when in Greece, Socrates, Aristotle and Plato preached doctrines which saw the birth of European civilization, when humanity there moved away from idol worship and animism to what we now know as modern civilization.

In this period in Persia, Zoroaster preached a similar doctrine. In China, Confucius preached a doctrine still relevant and in India, Gautama the Buddha preached the doctrine of Love, Maithriya, Non-violence and Democracy. I remember another great orator, Surendranath Banerjee from Bengal, when he addressed an assembly of Oxford students in England, before the First World War (1914-1918), and they derided the Indian people, and scoffed at their language, and customs, saying in his reply; “My friends, when your ancestors were swinging by their tails from the trees of your primeval forests, my ancestors had perfected a system of philosophy which is still the wonder of the world, and practiced it”.

When you meet here, when you talk of freedom of the media, of the other matters that have been part of our discussions, when you talk of terrorism and seek to join together to see that violent ways of life can be done away because of man’s ultimate adherence to non-violence, by and large that we can live together. It is because of this adherence to Truth, to Love, to Democracy, that in spite of Empires; in spite of those who believe in violence and nuclear arms, that man is able to survive. So many other species of animals have disappeared. That is the message that SAARC must give not only to our region but at the world.

Islamabad-1988

And at the fourth SAARC Summit at lslamabad in Pakistan December 29-31, 1988–chaired by Prime Miniser Benazir Bhutto I had tried to draw the attention of my distinguish colleagues and those present to our “common heritage”. These were my words:

“On the eve of my relinquishing duties as President of Sri Lanka, a post which I have held for 11 consecutive years, I consider it an honour to be able to participate in this Fourth Summit Meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, for I have been one of those associated with the development of SAARC in its various stages from its inception in 1985.

“Though we are all members of various international organizations, it is SAARC which is our own Association which is dear to us because all of us share a common history and heritage and our political and economic welfare is bound together by our proximity to each other and the geographical necessities that exist in this region.

“South Asia is the home of one-fifth of humanity. Though this region is rich in resources, its people are among the poorest. Our first objective, therefore, as rightly embodied in the Dhaka Charter of 1985, is the promotion of the welfare of the people and improving their quality of life. The alleviation of poverty and malnutrition is our primary task. It seems to me, however, that the various programmes of regional cooperation that we are now implementing will not have an immediate impact in meeting the common challenge facing us. We should therefore re-examine our priorities and our programmes of action to ensure that we do not lose sight of the objectives of our Charter.

“In the past year, our region has seen several natural calamities: floods, cyclones and earthquakes have taken a heavy toll of human lives and caused devastation on a level unprecedented in recent times. When we last met in Kathmandu, we commissioned a study of the causes and the consequences of natural disasters; the protection and reservation of the environment; regional cooperation to strengthen our disaster management capabilities…. gful steps we have taken to assist one

Other in times of calamity is the setting up of the “Food Security Reserve”. This is a notable achievement, but the mechanisms for the action must be sufficiently flexible and effective so that the reserve can be speedily utilized when needed in a time of calamity. We should think of what other measures we can take for immediate assistance. Our Association is young and though we have taken up about 15 areas for regional cooperation, we have still a long way to go. If regional cooperation is to be meaningful and is to have a beneficial effect in improving the quality of life of our people, we must now address ourselves to the feasibility of cooperation in the core areas of trade, industry and economic cooperation.

The members of SAARC, with a market of more than a billion people, could take a lesson from the experience of other associations and take urgent steps to lay the foundation for greater economic cooperation. The time if opportune to set up a Ministerial Committee to examine issues such as the promotion of intra-regional trade, preferential tariffs, joint marketing mechanisms for the export of selected commodities and generally greater economic cooperation among all countries of the region.

For SAARC to become really meaningful and a living reality, our peoples must also get to know each other, and understand and appreciate each other’s culture. It is to achieve this that at this forum we have been stressing the importance of people to people contacts. We can be happy that the areas we have taken up for cooperation such as tourism, exchange of youth, volunteers and academic exchanges are resulting in greater contact between the peoples of our various countries.

Madame Prime Minister, our cooperation is based on the firm belief that the good of all presupposes the good of each. In whatever programmes we undertake, their can be no meaningful cooperation until there is a meeting of the hearts and minds of all the peoples of the region with the stress “the peoples” not only of that of the leaders.