|
| March 05, 2008 | Wednesday | Safar 26, 1429 |
Lahore blast
The Safta talks
OTHER VOICES - European Press
IRANIAN President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s two-day state visit to Iraq signals the ascendancy of Tehran’s influence in the region. Even the bomb blasts that coincided with President Ahmadinejad’s arrival in Baghdad could not obscure the contrast between the stealthy visits of the American leadership and the ceremony that accompanied the Iranian leader’s reception. Mr Ahmadinejad’s is the first trip by an Iranian leader to Baghdad since the 1979 revolution and the eight-year war that broke out between Iran and Iraq in 1980. As such, it signifies that the healing process, especially after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, is well and truly on its way. While a possible solution to the Iran-Iraq border dispute has not been explored, seven agreements in the socio-economic sector were inked. More significantly, even as the US railed against Iran’s “illicit meddling in Iraq”, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said that Iran’s recent position “was very helpful in bringing back security and stability”.
It would be naive to imagine that the visit did not have Washington’s tacit approval. Although the Bush regime continues to focus on punitive measures for Iran, such as a third set of sanctions recently authorised by the UN, it realises that Iran has a key role in bringing peace to Iraq. Shia-dominated militias, aided and backed by Iran, have been behind much of the Shia-Sunni violence in the country. Today, the obvious decline in sectarian passions can, in large part, be attributed to Iran’s restraining hand which led the fearsome militia of Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr to declare a ceasefire last year. Both Baghdad and Washington know that Iran’s support in controlling such militias is crucial if the integrity of Iraq is to be preserved and if there is to be even a partial withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.
However, the Iranian leader’s visit to Iraq was not just a display of regional clout or aimed at upstaging Washington. From the perspective of Iran’s own national interest, it is important that the political situation in Iraq remains calm. For one, although it is believed that Iran supports insurgent groups fighting against the US in neighbouring Afghanistan, the need for peaceful frontiers cannot be emphasised enough. Cementing relations with Iraq will give Tehran peace of mind with regard to its western border and diminish its fear of the US using Iraqi territory to attack Iran. Similarly, bilateral economic cooperation with a stable, oil-rich Iraq can yield dividends, especially at a time when Tehran is under sanctions because of its nuclear programme. With the world living in grim times, one hopes that this new beginning does not go awry and proves a boon for the Gulf and the Middle East region.
THE nascent spring in Lahore turned lily-livered when the militants struck again to kill Pakistan navy officers. This attack suspected to be the doing of a suicide bomber took place in the parking lot of the highly secured Navy War College in a corner of the GOR-I — the residence of Punjab’s top bureaucrats, judges, and ministers on The Mall on Tuesday afternoon. A large number of naval officers and employees of the college were injured, some of them seriously. This was the third suicide attack in the country in the last five days and second in Lahore since January. The earlier suicide raid had killed 25 people, mostly policemen, during a lawyers’ anti-Musharraf rally at the GPO crossing on the other side of The Mall.
The two suicide raids against police and security forces establishments in Punjab’s capital — a long way from the tribal areas where militants are pitched in a long-drawn battle with the army — in less than two months made it quite obvious that the militants are ready to take this war to all parts of the country. They want the state to make peace with them on their terms and conditions that overtly militate against the principles underlying our body politic and the rule of law.
There have been conflicting claims about the number of attackers — police insists two bombers had struck while a Navy spokesman says the raid was carried out by one person — as well as on whether the bomber(s) was on foot or on a motorbike or in a car. It is also yet to be determined how many explosions occurred. As the law enforcers examine the details of the attack and try to agree on the number of raiders and explosions, and the type of transport used, the assault is a warning to the city’s residents — already battered by reports of bomb hoaxes at schools in the run-up to the Feb 18 elections — that violence has come to stay and they should learn to observe security precautions as far as possible.
IN his presentation at the expert committee meeting in New Delhi on Monday, ahead of the Safta Ministerial Council session, the Saarc Chamber of Commerce & Industry president lamented the fact that trade in the region constitutes only 1.4 per cent of total world imports and 1.2 per cent of exports. The progress on the free trade agreement, ratified by the member countries in August 2006, too has so far remained disappointingly slow. It is not a state secret why it has been so. Political relations between India and Pakistan have proved to be the biggest barrier blocking the timely execution of Safta. According to the Safta timetable the developing countries of the region (Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka) are to reach zero duty regime by 2012. The rest (Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives — categorised as least developed) will reach it by 2015. But the pace at which the agreement is being implemented makes it abundantly clear that none of these deadlines will be met. Meanwhile, Pakistan has continued to hold its trade with India hostage to the resolution of the Kashmir issue and India has proceeded to set up free border trade agreements with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. New Delhi is also enjoying roaring border trade with its relatively more developed and larger neighbour China.
Regional free trade agreements have been seen to have brought equitable prosperity and visible progress to member countries. Even relatively less developed members of such regional free trade areas like the European Union, Nafta (North America), Asean (East Asia) and Mercusor (Latin America) have been able to improve their economic lot simply because of their being part of a regional trading union. Even in the case of Safta all the studies so far conducted to assess its impact on member countries have come up with the common conclusion that all the member states would greatly benefit from it. India is a market of a billion people. So even if it does not join Safta, it would not make much of a difference to its already booming economy. But it would certainly make a lot of difference to Pakistan’s bubble economy if we did not keep trumping Safta with Kashmir. No Pakistani worth his salt would ever want to abdicate his or her obligations towards the people of Kashmir. But few would say that our present Kashmir policy is a great success. So, let us formulate a new Kashmir policy which would not deny Pakistan the gains of Safta without, however, causing any softening in Islamabad’s historic stand on the issue.
Palko’s Wonderland
The Slovak Spectator
IT is one of the oldest stories in Slovakia’s political book: ambitious MPs … clash with the leadership or are sacked from their plum cabinet post, then break away to found their own petty party. Their usual lament is that their party deviated from all kinds of values…. they establish their dwarfish political faction…
Perhaps the reader can decide whether to add the story of the four departing Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) politicians — Vladimír Palko, Frantisek Mikloško, Pavol Minárik and Rudolf Bauer — to this list.
The KDH has seen unhappy members leave the party three times already….When stating his reasons for leaving the KDH, Palko said he could no longer stand the KDH’s Janus-faced politics and its toying with…
It seems Palko will try to appeal to nationalist voters…. But regardless of how Palko packages his message, it is still the same.… in response to EU Commissioner Vladimír Špidla’s suggestion that more foreign labour be let into the EU….Mourning the loss of traditional values while ignoring Europe’s reality creates a political Wonderland….Unfortunately, Palko’s Wonderland weakens the opposition. — (March 3)
A righteous voice
Irish Examiner
YESTERDAY … Valentia Island enjoyed the warmest winter since records began in 1892, two other significant events took place and a milestone was passed.
Environment Minister John Gormley urged our EU partners to be more ambitious in setting targets to cut CO2 emissions. He suggested a target of 30 per cent…by the 2020 deadline…. — the 30 per cent proposal has upset his government partners….
The second event was the report for the European Environment Agency (EEA) which pointed out that the transport sector will have to accept rigorous measures to help Europe meet its greenhouse gas emission targets.
Yesterday’s milestone was the transmission of the last episode of ‘Life In Cold Blood’, the final installment in the last series of made-on-site documentaries from the man who never avoided his responsibilities.
David Attenborough has done more than possibly anyone alive to make us aware of our environment…. Attenborough influenced many, many people involved in politics or government because…profound cultural change is needed if we are to sustain ourselves. — (March 4)