SAFMA's South Asian Parliament Security Recommendations

Introduction
The following recommendations on security, prepared by C. Raja Mohan and Ejaz Haider, are based on the presentations and discussions in Session V: ‘Cooperative Security and Conflict Resolution Mechanism’, May 19, 2005, at SAFMA’s South Asian Parliament, Islamabad/Bhurban, May 14-20, 2005.

I. Bilateral Mechanisms
1. Welcomes the current peace process between India and Pakistan with its two fold objective: the exploration of all options for a final settlement of the J&K question in an atmosphere free of violence and normalisation of bilateral relations. Calls on India and Pakistan to implement their joint statements on January 6, 2004, September 24, 2004 and April 18, 2005 in their letter and spirit.
2. Welcomes the efforts by India and Pakistan to undertake nuclear and conventional military confidence-building measures. Urges them to put in place a comprehensive regime of CBMs that will ensure a nuclear-tension free subcontinent.
3. Supports the demand of India and Pakistan for negotiations with the other nuclear weapons powers to promote global non-proliferation and effective nuclear disarmament.
4. Calls on India and Pakistan to ensure an effective balance between military security and human security. We recognise that some modernisation of military forces in both countries is necessary and inevitable. At the same time, they must ensure that the acquisition of new arms do not affect the security of their neighbours and prevent a shift of resources from development to defence.
5. Calls on all countries in the region to put in place comprehensive sustainable dialogue mechanisms for resolving all bilateral disputes. While India and Pakistan today have a composite dialogue in place which has gathered momentum, similar exercises are needed, for example between India and Bangladesh.

II. Multilateral Mechanisms for Traditional Security Threats
6. Recognising the importance of regional cooperation on countering the widespread threat of terrorism, the Conference calls on the SAARC to upgrade the current protocol for cooperation against terrorism to bring it in line with the international norms. The regional effort against terrorism must also include measures to combat the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, narcotics-trafficking, smuggling and criminal mafias.
7. Calls on the SAARC countries to promote exchanges and interaction between

the national intelligence and security agencies with their counterparts across the border. This cooperation must include intelligence sharing, joint training and cooperative cross-border missions.
8. Proposes greater interaction between the armed forces and military establishments in the region. This must include exchanges of military delegations, training of officers in other countries and a discussion of military doctrines to promote greater military transparency in the subcontinent.
9. Calls upon Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan to share their rich experience in international peacekeeping operations. Together these countries account for a substantive potion of the international peace keeping operations, but have no interaction with each other.

III. Multilateral Mechanisms -- Non-Military Threats to Security
10. Calls upon the SAARC states to pay greater attention to the non-military threats to security that affect the lives of millions of people in the region.
11. Underlines the special importance of water security for the region and recognizes that this cannot be met by exclusive national approaches alone. Given the natural integrity of the river systems in the Subcontinent, the conference demands that SAARC adopt a comprehensive multilateral approach that ensures the interests of all in both the upper and lower riparian states.
12. Welcomes the recent proposals for multilateral trans-border pipeline projects in the region, including those between India, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. An early and successful conclusion of at least one of these projects is necessary demonstrating the relevance of multilateral approaches for energy security.
13. Bemoans the lack of effective cooperation among the SAARC states to protect the regional environment and demands an immediate multilateral mechanism to address the collective environmental challenges in the Subcontinent.
14. Calls upon the SAARC states to develop an effective multilateral mechanism for prediction, prevention and management of natural disasters in the region. Efforts of the regional states in the management of the Tsunami earlier this year should provide valuable lessons for the region as a whole.

IV. Internal Conflicts
15. The conference strongly emphasizes the principle that there can be no intervention in the internal affairs of any nation in the subcontinent. Yet given the implications of internal conflicts for regional security as a whole, the conference calls on the SAARC to pay greater attention to the relationship between internal and regional security.
16. It calls on both parties in Sri Lanka to take immediate steps towards a revival of the stalled peace process.
17. It calls upon Nepal to restore the democratic rights in the country, announce a ceasefire with the Maoists and initiate early political negotiations to come up with a sustainable process to end the conflict in the country.

V. Extra-Regional Security Cooperation
18. Many countries of the region are increasingly being called upon to undertake

security responsibilities beyond South Asia. India and Pakistan are members of the Asean Regional Forum and part of its efforts to promote regional security. In this context, the states of SAARC must expand their own bilateral and regional security cooperation as well as create mechanisms for greater contribution to extra-regional and international security.
19. Beyond South East Asia, SAARC countries could explore the prospects for contributing collectively to security in Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
20. Cooperation between the naval forces of South Asia and between them and extra-regional actors will particularly contribute to protection of sea lanes that pass through Indian Ocean, prevent piracy and promote energy security.

VI. Advancing the SAARC Charter
21. Without prejudice to the current positions of the SAARC governments on amending the SAARC charter, the conference calls upon the next SAARC summit to initiate a study on mechanisms for cooperative security in the region.
22. Given the increasingly intrusive nature of the international system, it is imperative that the region develop its own security mechanisms. In this context, the conference calls upon the SAARC to consider the establishment of a SAARC Security Forum on the lines of the ASEAN Regional Forum.
23. The conference welcomes the decision, in principle, of the Islamabad SAARC summit to establish procedures for cooperation with other countries and organizations. Given the increasing interdependence among regions, cooperation with neighbouring countries and organisations is an essential future activity for SAAR