DHAKA: The D-8 bloc consists of the eight most populous Muslim majority countries — two from South East Asia (Indonesia and Malaysia), two from South Asia (Pakistan and Bangladesh), two from Middle East (Turkey and Iran) and two from Africa (Egypt and Nigeria).

They constitute 60 per cent of the world’s Muslims and 13 per cent of the world’s population.

The presidents of Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia and Nigeria, the prime minister of Turkey, vice president of Egypt, deputy prime minister of Malaysia and international affairs adviser (minister) to the prime minister of Bangladesh attended the summit.

The very fact that the heads of state/government of three countries such as, Bangladesh, Egypt and Malaysia, did not attend the summit for different reasons diminishes to a large extent the importance of this meeting.

Furthermore, the summit started in Islamabad a day after militant attacks had killed 36 people across the country in some of the deadliest violence claimed by the Taliban for months. Twenty-three people were killed and 62 wounded overnight (Nov 21) in Rawalpindi. “It seems the new breed of religious zealots wanted to tell the D-8 dignitaries all about the mess dwelling the country,” one of the delegates remarked.

The D-8 member states are facing massive challenges including food security, communal violence, terrorism and a tarnished international image which needed to be addressed through a joint effort.

It is necessary to create a framework of cooperation on long-term energy security; creating a level playing field for all segments of society, mandate scientific and technological cooperation, develop joint industrial projects and share engineering and management knowledge with the D-8 centre of excellence at the forefront of the collaborative effort.

The summit adopted the 35-point Islamabad Declaration which contains the organisation’s charter and the D-8 “global vision”. However, the documents were based on pledges and commitment and no decisions were announced.

The last summit in Nigeria, in 2010, had also adopted similar commitments but no concrete actions were translated into action. In Islamabad, the leaders stressed the importance of collaborative efforts on:

capacity-building, transfer of technology, exploration of new energy resources, development of alternative fuels and renewable sources of energy, as well as research; and development and production of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

They welcomed Pakistan’s offer to host the first energy forum to evolve a framework of cooperation. They pledged to work jointly to confront common challenges faced by the D-8 countries; especially in achieving food security, mitigating the impact of natural disasters and countering all forms of extremism, which undermine economic progress and adversely affect people’s livelihood.

In an apparent reference to the unilateral sanctions against Iran, the D-8 leaders noted with concern the consequences of the coercive economic measures on the livelihood of people.

They committed to creating a level playing field for all segments of society, in particular for the youth to attain modern skills, to become participants in the emerging knowledge-based economy and the information society.

They emphasised the need for scientific and technological cooperation and the development of joint industrial projects and sharing of engineering and management knowledge, with the D-8 centres of excellence at the forefront of collaborative effort.

Recognising the emerging role of Islamic banking and finance in Muslim societies, including the D-8 community, they urged member states to assist in its development as a catalyst for expansion in financial and trade activities.

It was reported in media in Pakistan that Islamabad can take comfort in the fact that the D-8 summit of eight major Muslim countries could be held at all. Given the country’s security situation, especially in Muharram, which happened to coincide with the dates of the summit, its holding per se could be considered an achievement.

The question in most minds is: what, after all, has the D-8 achieved in concrete terms during its 15-year existence? Summits and conferences were held and tons of paperwork and documents emanated from summits. But the pledges were not translated on the ground. At a time of global economic crisis, the role of economic bloc D-8 in safeguarding the interests of member-countries has assumed more importance.

Although the summit expressed its intent to increase the bloc’s trade from the present $130 billion to US$507 billion by 2018, the declarations of the summit remained confined to mere pledges and commitments, without any concrete decisions being taken to translate these expressions of intent into reality.

It is difficult to find the word “agreed or decided” in the declaration, but words such as “note” or “reiterate” are plenty.

Often the national interests override those of the group’s. For example, Pakistan and Turkey recently have not had a happy experience regarding the ship-borne rental power plant docked in Karachi and awaiting a settlement so it can leave without having generated even one megawatt.

The affair only serves to underline the difficulties in overcoming obstacles to the desired cooperation. Although Turkey and Iran attended the summit, both countries came with a different political agenda. Both countries have vastly different views on Syria’s civil war and unless political relations are harmonious, economic relations do not progress in a multilateral forum.

Observers say that forums such as D-8 focus on symbolism rather than substance, and on rhetoric rather than action. Given the time and money invested for such summit, people are starting to question its relevance. The ball now is in the leaders’ court.

By arrangement with The Daily Star/ANN

(The writer is a former Bangladesh ambassador to the UN office in Geneva)