Agreements on CBMs

REPORTS from New Delhi are encouraging, for Pakistan and India have agreed on a number of confidence- building measures in both conventional and non-conventional fields. After two days of expert-level talks on nuclear CBMs, the two sides decided on Saturday to set up a hotline between the two foreign secretaries to ensure against a war by accident or by the unauthorized use of nuclear weapons. Later, a similar line will link the two directors-general of military operations. Another agreement reached in principle relates to prior notification of missile tests. Under the existing system, too, the two sides inform each other of a scheduled missile test. But now the two countries have agreed to have a structured procedure. The agreement reached on Monday on conventional CBMs is even more impressive, the most important being that on army posts along the Line of Control. Both have agreed that no new military posts will be established along the LoC, and the ceasefire will be maintained. In all, the two delegates agreed on seven conventional CBMs, including those in respect of each other’s air space and the repatriation of civilians who stray across the border.

The significance of the accords lies in its timing, for they come after some unpleasant developments. The worst of them was Dr Manmohan Singh’s performance during his last month’s American visit. The Indian prime minister chose the nuclear non-proliferation issue to attack Pakistan and told the media that he feared Pakistani nuclear weapons could fall into wrong hands. He also expressed his reservations about the three-nation gas pipeline project and said it was too risky because of the “uncertainties” of the Iranian situation. For that reason, he doubted if any multinational would be willing to underwrite the project. The remarks about Pakistan’s nuclear weapons were particularly unfortunate and in sharp contrast to India’s own policy in this respect. Until then India had repeatedly said that it considered Pakistan’s nuclear weapons to be in safe hands. While Islamabad reacted appropriately to Dr Singh’s remarks on the two questions, sections of the media and public opinion in India too were critical of the statements because they went against the spirit of normalization.

The peace process must be pursued in all seriousness. Pakistan did well by not over-reacting to Dr Singh’s remarks. The agreements in New Delhi should serve to strengthen the normalization process and help offset the negative effects of the doubts that may have recently developed. The hotline should be in place next month, proving, as a Pakistan delegate said, that “sanity has prevailed.” As the joint statement said, Pakistan and India are nuclear states, stressing that “we are living side by side. We have to evolve modalities for confidence-building for nuclear restraint and for the resolution of all disputes.” This way, the third meeting at the experts’ level has been a success, for it constitutes a step forward in the “composite dialogue” to which both sides pledged at Islamabad in January 2004. There is no doubt that the experts were guided by the fact that President Musharraf and Dr Singh are scheduled to meet next month in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. The obvious task before them will be to remove the differences that had recently cropped up and pledge to carry the detente forward.

The ‘watchdog’ anomalies

THE Islamabad chamber of commerce chief is right in saying that regulatory bodies in Pakistan have not served the cause of consumer rights by their actions. Industry regulators like the Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA), Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) or the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority have, by and large, failed to ensure that consumers get quality services and products at an affordable cost. The PTA has often gloated over the boom in the telecom sector, as if it, and not the booming urban economy, was behind the growth. Apart from publicizing the results of an industry survey revealing poor performance, the PTA has done little to check the continuously abysmal services, in terms of both connectivity and billing, provided by mobile phone operators. And it has often been accused of favouring PTCL unduly. As for Pemra, instead of ensuring that cable operators provide cheap and reliable services, it seems more concerned with becoming the country’s guardian of public morality. At the same time, it ignores the rampant piracy that some of the larger cable operators freely indulge in, much to the detriment of the domestic video and film industry.

And then we have Ogra, which allowed a raise in the gas tariff, citing, quite unjustifiably, a worldwide increase in fuel prices. The fact is that Pakistan does not import gas; the real reason for the tariff hike is insistence by donors, especially the World Bank, to eliminate government subsidies and to remove differentials between the tariff. Nepra is the power sector watchdog, but again mostly in name. Its failure is evidenced by the fact that electricity tariffs in Pakistan are the highest in the region. Unlike in most developed countries, the industry watchdogs here are under the control of the government which means that they cannot function independently and might be prone to government manipulation. To make them truly receptive to the needs of consumers, and to ensure a more effective check on abuse of corporate power and better product quality at affordable prices, the regulators should be made independent of any government control.

Destruction of trees

ONE cannot but view with scepticism a report saying that the current monsoon season will see the planting of 5.2 million saplings in the Fata region alone. Plantation campaigns are held frequently in the country every year. But evidently, this has not yielded any results so far as the rate of cutting down trees outstrips that of afforestation. Several reasons can be attributed to this rampant felling of trees. Haphazard development, fuel requirements by woodland communities, overgrazing, urbanization, increasing population and industrial needs have combined to reduce Pakistan’s forest cover to less than five per cent of the total land area, well below the desirable figure of 30 per cent. We have seen the effects of this in the rising incidence of floods, landslides and the loss of several species of plants, including many with medicinal properties. This is a pity, because Pakistan possesses a varied topography and is home to several types of forests ranging from the mangroves in the south to the coniferous woodlands of the north.

Unfortunately, so far there has been little emphasis on the environment which has never figured prominently on the government’s list of essential priorities. This has translated into a lackadaisical attitude where the forestry department is concerned, and the poor enforcement of existing legislation on the subject has been the result. The authorities need to adopt a more thoughtful approach to the problem. They must be made aware that the unplanned destruction of forests will have severe climactic and ecological consequences in the long run. Also, work must be speeded up on providing those living near forests with alternative sources of fuel for cooking and other domestic purposes. It is equally important to crack down on the illegal lumbering of trees by the timber mafia, as their activities are seriously damaging precious ecosystems, crucial to the delicate web of life.