(The Tribune)

SOON after India indicating its willingness to resume arms aid to Nepal has come New Delhi’s readiness to attend the annual session of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). This is being interpreted as a U-turn in India’s policy, which does not seem to be true. The change in India’s stance vis-à-vis Nepal reflects its concern for preventing the growth of the Maoist menace there. King Gyanendra is yet to restore democracy, but he has been made to realise that he has committed a blunder by snapping the democratic process in Nepal. He must have got this message immediately after India forced the postponement of the SAARC meeting and suspended supplying arms.

India, however, could not come in the way of the SAARC meeting for a long time. New Delhi had to allow the meeting to be held in Dhaka as India is committed to promoting regionalism, one of the primary objectives of SAARC. The postponement of the SAARC session, which will now be held soon, also appears to have had the intended impact on Bangladesh. It was getting a bad name as the international community thought that Dhaka was not able to host the SAARC session because of the chaotic conditions there. India too wanted to tell Bangladesh that New Delhi could no longer tolerate Dhaka allowing anti-India forces to operate from there freely. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Morshed Khan’s request to his Indian counterpart Natwar Singh to agree to attend the SAARC meeting reportedly indicates that Dhaka has got the message New Delhi wanted to convey. Perhaps!

Every SAARC member must learn to conduct itself as a responsible member of the regional community. Any country that allows destabilizing forces to use its territory must be exposed. But nothing should be done to prevent the evolution of SAARC into “an organization relevant to the aspirations of the peoples of South Asia”, as Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said recently. India wants its neighbours to see this country as an area of opportunity. If they harbour anti-India forces they will be indirectly harming their own interests.