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| December 14, 2006 | Thursday | Ziqa'ad 22, 1427 |
Free trade can reduce conflicts: experts
ISLAMABAD, Dec 13: Free and fair trade practices can scale down the risk of conflicts between Pakistan and India, but political issues need to be resolved simultaneously for durable peace to break out in the region.
This was the majority view at a session on regional trade agreements and conflict mitigation at the ninth sustainable development conference called “Missing Links in Sustainable Development: South Asian Perspectives”, which was organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Leading Indian researcher Dr Rajesh Kumar said it would be better for India and Pakistan to adopt the ‘China Model’ and move ahead on the economic front without letting the disputes getting in the way, just like India and China had done.
He said economic cooperation would lead to the traditional rivals developing a stake in each other’s security, which would ultimately culminate in political cooperation.
However, he conceded, adopting the China Model would be difficult in case of India and Pakistan given the nature of their political conflict.
Chairing the session, Talat Masood said trade helped in mitigating the incidence of conflicts. However, he said Pakistan and India should resolve trade and other disputes sides by side. He said there was a need for a balanced approach.
SDPI’s Shaheen Rafi Khan said if leaders reverted to the Saarc mandate and developed shared commitments it would result in interdependence that would spill over to sustainable peace between neighbours.
However, he said, current regional trade agreements had failed to promote peace in the region and enhance the volume of intra-region trade.
S. Mansoob Murshed of the Institute of Social Sciences, The Netherlands, said more trade between Pakistan and India would result in reducing the conflict. He said greater market access for products of each other would also reduce the hostility element.
He said countries cooperated with each other not because of democracy but because of their economic interests, for example in the cases of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Member states of these organisations cooperate because of their economic interests.
Mark Halle of Canada highlighted that current trends of trade and aid were powerful conduits of finance and influence, and that trade and aid priorities of rich countries had a profound impact on the society, economy and stability of developing countries.
He was of the opinion that 80 per cent conflicts could be resolved if the political will was there, particularly in trade negotiations. He highlighted a range of measures for framing country trade policy which reflected the true potential for promotion.
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