CONFLICTO INTERNO ARMADO EN LA VERTIENTE NORTE DE LA SIERRA NEVADA DE SANTA MARTA

India and Pakistan in SAARC are the France and Germany of European Union. In the past six decades, peace broke out in Europe. Unlike Europe, India and Pakistan have found the legacy of revenge and conflict hard to overcome. The Nobel Peace Prize 2012 was awarded to European Union (EU) "for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe." In his Nobel Lecture, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council maintained that mere symbolism does not work for peace. What worked

was the European Union's "secret weapon" which he described as ―an

unrivalled way of binding our interests so tightly that war becomes

materially impossible.‖ The foundations of this peace were laid on 9 May

1950, when the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman began his peace project by bringing the erstwhile enemies together in producing coal and steel, the very materials of war, to make peace. In his words: "The solidarity in production thus established will make it plain that any war between France and Germany becomes not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible".

The global financial crisis shook the foundations of EU. It has survived the crisis, not because of any economic initiative, but because of its political framework which is based on the principle of collective responsibility. The stronger economies are required to support the economies in crisis. As the afore-mentioned Nobel Lecture put it: ―Without

this European cooperation, the result might easily have been new protectionism, new nationalism, with the risk that the ground gained would

be lost.‖ In sharp contrast, a single incidence can roll back years of work on

peace between India and Pakistan and economic cooperation in SAARC. From committees to summits, discussions of bilateral issues are avoided in the deliberations of SAARC. These fora, however, do provide an opportunity to the leaders to engage in a political dialogue. The Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan has cast the longest shadow over the economic cooperation in South Asia. There is no agreement on Kashmir. This is, however, not to say that agreements are implemented. Despite agreement, the issues of Sir Creek and Siachin remain a bone of contention. Even the settled issues such as the Indus Water Treaty are in danger of being reopened. The issue of the rights of co-riparians of Ganges and Brahmaputra basins is no less important.

In recent years, terrorism has done more damage to the peace process than any other issue. The only time the SAARC looked at a political and security issue with bilateral implications was during the twelfth and the thirteenth SAARC summits. Fight against terrorism was on the agenda and regional cooperation was agreed. There is nothing concrete to show in this regard.

Regional Cooperation is the subject of central governments of the member states. Even when these governments have the desire to move ahead in key areas, they are unable to develop national consensus in the enormously diverse populations. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made peace with India an elections issue. However, developments on the Line of Control undermined his position and that of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Instead of regional cooperation to fight terror, the two Prime Ministers were taking positions at the United Nations which have been frozen in time. In case of Sri Lanka, India takes a position on terrorism which is the opposite of the position vis-à-vis Pakistan.

Conclusion

Most regional economic integration arrangements went through a step by step process. There are no quick fixes. This is especially so when the region has a history of conflict. The important thing is to keep engaged. SAARC has not made any significant progress in extending regional economic collaboration. The objective of a South Asian Economic Union by 2020 is unlikely to be achieved. Nor can it be fast-tracked by extra-regional incentives. Slow but steady progress in intraregional trade, facilitated by improved regional connectivity for ideas, people and goods, is the way forward. Increasing intraregional strength opens up greater possibilities of integration with the globalized world. If Germany and France could forget the past and lead the way towards sixty year of peace and progress in

Europe, India and Pakistan can also do it through political will exercised on behalf of democratically elected Parliaments. In the last elections in Pakistan, friendship with India was a campaign slogan. The route to economic progress in the region goes through politics. The great advantage of SAARC is that even when India and Pakistan are not talking bilaterally, it provides opportunities on the sideline of summits to keep the two mistrusting nations engaged. Economic fast tracking in SAARC is directly proportional to the accumulation of trust capital between India and Pakistan.

REFERENCES

Delinic, Tomislav and Nishchal N. Pandey (eds).2012. SAARC: Towards Meaningful Cooperation. Kathmandu: Centre for South Asian Studies/Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

Pasha, Hafiz A and Aisha Ghaus-Pasha.2012a.Non-Tariff Barriers of India and Pakistan and their Impact. US-AID, Institute of Public Policy, Beacon House National University

Pasha, Hafiz A., Aisha Ghaus-Pasha, Shahid Kardar and Tasneem Noorani.2012b. Study on Regional Integration. Lahore: DFID-UK, Institute of Public Policy, Beacon house National University.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2012.TRAINS. <http://r0.unctad.org/trains_new/database.shtm#>.

World Trade Organization (WTO), 2011.Annual Report 2011.<http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/anrep_e/anrep11_e.pdf> .

Appendix I