'Vested interests won't stop South Asian cooperation'

India on Tuesday subtly nudged Pakistan to stop playing a spoilsport in South Asian nations’ pursuit for greater regional connectivity.

“It remains our conviction that the logic of larger regional cooperation will prevail over vested interests that block it,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, making an obvious reference to Pakistan, which blocked the SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement and SAARC Regional Agreement during the November 2014 summit of the eight-nation bloc in Kathmandu in November.

Swaraj made the remark while inaugurating the first Raisina Dialogue, which the Ministry of External Affairs is co-hosting with Delhi-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation. “While resources and capabilities drive the pace of connectivity, policy choices can be a critical factor. Even in South Asia, we have seen that good neighbourly ties can have a strong beneficial effect on building road and rail connections, opening waterways or supplying energy,” said Swaraj.

Nearly 450 participants from 40 countries are participating in the Raisina Dialogue, which is focussed on “Asia: Regional and Global Connectivity”. “The desire to cooperate has spawned institutions, bodies and groupings in different regions. SAARC, as you all know, is our local example and one where we are still striving to realise its full potential. But no one can deny that our openness to each other is an important consequence of this intent,” she said.