S.D. Muni replies: SAARC has no institutional mechanism to help Afghanistan directly in its internal strife, except activating and sincerely implementing the SAARC provisions on counter-terrorism. But this is not possible without Pakistan's active and honest cooperation. However, SAARC can help Afghanistan transform the conflict and eventually resolve it through economic softening, again, if Pakistan agrees to join the SAARC mechanism in connecting India with Afghanistan physically and facilitates trade and investment. This will help the economy of strife-torn south-eastern Afghanistan to grow and provide creative alternate opportunities to those who are affected by and prospering on conflict. This will also help Pakistan economy to become more dynamic. Greater sub-regional economic integration will provide win-win solutions to the individual and collective socio-economic and political challenges to all the three countries: India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Greater South Asian connectivity will also further boost economic opportunities for Afghanistan as well as Pakistan and India in Central Asia.

Posted on May 2, 2014

Rup Narayan Das replies: The Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) is the latest round of Confidence Building Measure (CBM) signed in October 2013 between India and China. There has been a slew of CBMs between the two countries that started in September 1993 with the signing of the Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border, which was followed up in 1996, 2005 and in 2012. The thrust of the latest CBM – BDCA - is to, as the very name suggests, prevent occurrence of border incursions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which is not clearly defined or demarcated. This at times leads to overlapping claims. The CBMs provide both procedural and institutional mechanisms like the border personnel meetings and the flag meetings between the defence personnel of the two countries to address such overlapping claims and amicably resolve such issues. This is, however, no substitute for the border dispute settlement for which the two countries have the Special Representatives Talks. The BDCA while reiterating provisions of most of the earlier CBMs provides for certain additional mechanisms. The most significant Article in the BDCA is Article VI which stipulates that the two sides shall not follow or tail patrols of the other side in areas where there is no common understanding of the LAC.

China’s ‘Neighbourhood Diplomacy’, by Chinese accounts, means maintaining a peaceful and stable environment in its neighbourhood and to integrate China’s development with the development of the neighbouring countries.

Posted on April 30. 2014