|
INDIA
and Pakistan as member-economies of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum? Possible problems
that could confront the conference should this
materialize—India has applied for membership, could its
rival
Pakistan
be far behind?—are causing current members some agony.
A senior
official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said
this situation would become possible, if not outright
probable, should the moratorium for new membership be
lifted, which is one of the issues to be discussed at
the Apec Summit in November.
“There
are current discussions at the senior ministers level on
whether to lift the moratorium to make way for the
membership of India. But our main consideration is the
similar application of Pakistan,” said a DFA senior
official who requested anonymity.
The
21-member economic grouping will tackle mainly the
mechanisms for the proposed comprehensive Asia-Pacific
Free Trade Agreement (FTA-AP) at the summit. The FTA-AP
would cover economies that collectively account for
close to half of the global gross national product (GNP)
and 40 percent of the global trade. Apec also comprises
half of the global population.
India’s
entry to Apec is crucial for the proposed free-trade
agreement, said the DFA official, since it brings
additional major economic strength to the group owing to
its being a huge market.
India
and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1971; the
issues include the disputed region of Kashmir located at
the foothills of the Himalayas known for its strategic
importance and landmark value.
Western
countries have initiated conflict solutions since both
are members of the nuclear club. The conflict also
affects the economic stability in the subcontinent that
has more than a billion people, with 950 million of them
from
India.
The DFA
official said Western members have also included in the
agenda the proposed reforms in the Apec Secretariat that
would create positions for chief operating officer (COO)
and executive director.
“We are
opposing this initiative, along with developing
countries from Asean as well as
China.” He explained the creation of these key positions in
Apec would further strengthen the “influence of the rich
economies” in the regional bloc.
At the
first senior ministers’ meeting in Lima, Peru, he said
the Philippines and other developing countries had
already objected to the initiative.
He added
the Western proponents of the initiative “have already
in mind the people they want to install” in the new
positions.
The
diplomat said the matter is expected to be raised again
in the next senior officials’ meeting early May. “But we
will still oppose this initiative as it would only
weaken the collective strengths of the developing
countries in Apec.”
Apec
member-economies include the Philippines, Australia,
Vietnam, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan,
South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New
Guinea, Peru, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, United States,
Hong Kong and Thailand. |
