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Your Excellency President Nazarbayev,
Excellencies and distinguished guests,
Yesterday, Mr. President, I was delighted to have joined you in
naming a road in Almaty after Mahatma Gandhi. I was conscious of
the special coincidence of honouring this Apostle of Peace on
the eve of the CICA conference. For the Mahatma continues to
remain an inspiring symbol of the noblest traditions of Asia and
the world, of values that are as universal as they are eternal.
This is not the first time that roads between India and your
charming country have carried a message of peace. Long ago,
Buddhism had travelled along the Silk Route to many parts of our
continent. Later, the Sufi saints’ message of universal love
and brotherhood echoed across India, Central Asia and beyond.
All the nations of present-day Asia are, in some way or the
other, products of the process of interaction and integration
that has gone on in Asia throughout history. Therefore, in our
tendency to focus on the conflicts of the day, we should not
forget or belittle our shared past. What unites the countries of
Asia is far deeper and, I have no doubt, far more enduring, than
what may temporarily divide us.
It is with this optimistic belief that I greet all the fellow
participants of this conference. In this context, Mr. President,
I cannot but salute your own personal vision and political
foresight. This first summit of CICA is, above all, a tribute to
your untiring efforts in the past ten years. The leadership
gathered here in Almaty is proof of our confidence in your
vision. The documents that we are going to adopt today are
definitely our collective effort. But CICA would for long be
remembered as your gift to international goodwill.
Excellencies, we have gathered here at a unique point in the
history of Asia and the world. At the dawn of the last century,
much of Asia was under colonial rule. Today, many scholars have
prophesied that the 21st century belongs to Asia. From an
economic point of view, several countries in Asia have already
embraced the future. This is a matter of pride and hope for all
of us in Asia.
Yet, Asia is also home to many serious problems that continue to
impede its progress, undermine its potential and cause concern
to us as well as to people around the world. Some of these
problems are a sad inheritance from our colonial history. It is
my belief that none of these contentious issues is beyond
resolution through dialogue – patient, sincere and mutually
accommodative dialogue.
Unfortunately, in recent times, the logic of conflict resolution
through dialogue has had to counter a formidable enemy. Its name
is terrorism, sustained by religious extremism. Its epicenter is
in India’s neighbourhood. It has emerged as the biggest enemy
of peace, security, democracy and multi-religious societies in
Asia and around the world. Experience shows that terror respects
neither boundaries nor lines of self-control. Its lethal power
and its sinister objectives became known to the world after the
September 11 terrorist attacks on USA. India, however, has been
its target for close to two decades.
We in India have been fighting terrorism from the line of
self-control that we have drawn around ourselves. We have heard,
once again, assurances that this line will not be allowed to be
pierced. We hope that the words contained in these assurances
will be matched by deeds.
Asian and global security depends crucially on how unitedly,
decisively and speedily we counter this menace. In this
struggle, there can be no place for any nation to
rationalize or justify terrorism any of the causes propounded by
its perpetrators. The plain and simple truth is that the killing
of innocent men, women and children cannot be defended by
invoking any of the alleged grievances, underlying causes or
attendant circumstances.
This gathering is well aware that the United Nations’ Security
Council Resolution No. 1373 specifically bars any nation from
supporting terrorism – either directly or indirectly in
the name of providing moral and political support.
Implementation of this Resolution will prove to be an important
confidence-building measure in Asia.
The other confidence-building measures that CICA should
actively promote are economic cooperation, cultural interaction
and people-to-people contacts. We should
consistently strive to strengthen trade, investment, joint
ventures, and cooperation in science, technology and human
resource development both within and among all the regions of
Asia. India has long held the view that closer bilateral and
regional cooperation in all these areas can act as a powerful
catalyst not only for prosperity and development, but also for
conflict-resolution. It is this conviction that drives our
perseverant efforts to build relations of cooperation and trust
with all our neighbours.
Under-development and unequal development between countries
and regions has always been a source of discord and conflict.
Therefore, just as peace is a goal in itself, we must accept
balanced development too as a goal in itself. Indeed,
removal of poverty and sustainable development is an important
confidence-building measure.
Thus, an Asian Development Initiative has to become an
integral part of the CICA process. This should encourage the
more developed countries in Asia to increase their
cooperation with the less develo ped ones.
In our understandable focus on economic progress, we
sometimes tend to downplay the importance greater cultural and
civilisational interaction as a confidence measure. Asia is
blessed with all types of natural resources. But perhaps
its most precious wealth is its diverse civilisational and
spiritual heritage. Almost all the world’s religions –
Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Sikhism, Confucianism,
etc – originated in
Asia. All of them continue to thrive here.
This religious, cultural and civilisational diversity need
not divide us. Rather, it can become a powerful basis for unity
if we adhere to the principle of tolerance and equal respect for
all faiths and cultural traditions – even as we remain
justifiably proud of our own.
The cultural, economic and political heterogeneity of Asia
naturally has a profound bearing on the security challenges in
our continent. The countries of Asia have a legacy of
different experiences of colonialism. The trauma of the Cold War
has impacted us differently.
It is also important to remember that Asia has four declared
nuclear weapon states. It has some of the largest standing
armies of the world. Non-Asian navies operate freely in Asian
waters. The continent has a large number of missile producing
and exporting countries. Asia’s military spending has actually
increased sharply after the Cold War.
CICA, therefore, has to evolve certain reliable ground
rules that would promote peace and security in Asia, by
reconciling the diverse concerns and interests of the countries
of the continent. One of the most important ground rules is that
nuclear weapon-states should not indulge in nuclear blackmail.
India has already adopted the doctrine of no first-use. We
believe that adoption of this by all nuclear weapon-states would
be an important confidence-building measure for Asia and the
world.
Excellencies, the quest for universal peace is a lofty
goal. And the path may be difficult. Our own world today is a
testimony to the difficulties we face. But we owe it to
our future generations to struggle for peace now. We must not
leave them a heritage of violence.
The great philosopher and poet of Kazakhstan, Abai, had
once said:
“Look deep into your soul and ponder over my words:
To you I am a puzzle, both my person and my verse.
My life has been a struggle, a thousand foes I have braved.
But, don’t judge me harshly – for I paved the way for
you.”
I have pondered over these lines in Almaty. They have given me
hope. Like Abai, I know we have a hard struggle ahead. But, like
Abai, I am also hopeful. Hopeful that the good will
prevail over evil. Hopeful that terror would one day lay down
its arms. Hopeful that the peoples of Asia and the world would
live in a future of peace, love, brotherhood and
cooperation.
Excellencies, it is with this hope and goodwill that I wish you
and your people well.
Before I conclude, I would like to say the following:
We have heard President Musharraf talk about tensions in
South Asia and offer a dialogue between India and Pakistan.
Distinguished delegates in this room will recall that on
January 12, the President of Pakistan had publicly made two
promises. One, that Pakistan will not allow its territory
to be used to promote terrorism anywhere in the world. Two,
that no organization will be allowed to indulge in terrorism in
the name of Kashmir.
We have seen in the following months that cross-border
infiltration has increased, violence in Jammu & Kashmir has
continued unabated, and terrorist camps operate unhindered
across our borders.
On May 27, President Musharraf has again made the commitment
that cross-border infiltration will stop. You would agree that
the past record makes us very cautious about accepting such
promises unquestiongly.
If we see that action on the ground corresponds to the
promises made by President Musharraf, we will naturally take
appropriate consequent steps.
As far as an India-Pakistan dialogue is concerned, it is India
which has always taken the initiative for it. In the space of
the last four years, I have been to Lahore and invited President
Musharraf to Agra. We have repeatedly said that we are willing
to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including Jammu &
Kashmir.
But for that cross-border terrorism has to end. Thank you.
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