 About
South Asia Together
South Asia Together is an initiative of the International
Centre, Goa backed by the Ford Foundation and
the Ratan Tata Trust. The project aims at creating
a peace community of South Asian youth. This is to
be achieved by bringing them together through a series
of dialogues focusing on Democratization, Peace and
Regional Cooperation in South Asia. The Project is guided by an eminent
advisory panel consisting of Dr. V.A. Pai
Panandikar, Founder President, Centre for
Policy Research and member of Group of Eminent Persons
on South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation,
Prof. Muchkund Dubey, Former Foreign Secretary
of India and also member of Group of Eminent Persons
on SAARC and Ambassador Eric Gonsalves,
former secretary Ministry of External Affairs and
India's former ambassador to European Union and Japan.
Operational
Plan for South Asia Together
The project seeks to initiate a dialogue on the vital
issues of Democratization, Peace & Regional Cooperation
in South Asia, which have a crucial bearing on the
future of 1.4 billion people of the region. It strives
to take a fresh look at past experiences, present
predicaments and future possibilities in the region,
thereby initiating efforts in creating a peaceful
and secure South Asia.
The
First Plenary Conference
The First Plenary Conference of
the project was organized on 20th-21st September 2004
where around forty delegates from five South Asian
countries including Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri
Lanka and India participated. Theme papers were invited
from eminent resource-persons including Prof.
Kanti Bajpai, presently Head Master Doon
School, Prof. C. Raja Mohan, at present
Editor (Strategic Affairs), with the Indian Express
and Prof. Mahendra Lama, Chairman
- South Asian Studies Division, School of International
Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Presentation
on each of the three themes was followed by interactive
sessions, where the delegates shared their perspectives.
The conference created the basis for a more intensive
discussions held in subsequent Working Group Meetings.
The
Working Group Meetings
The Working Group Meetings of the
Project was held from 24th-25th February, 2005. Country
papers were invited from all the South Asian delegates
who participated. The working papers led to a more
focused interaction on each of the three themes particularly
with reference to the challenges and opportunities
that each country faces while pursuing the path of
Democratization, Peace and Regional Cooperation. An
important objective of the exercise was to see where
countries could learn from each other's experiences
and to what extent a collective regional effort in
that direction could be initiated.
The
Final Plenary Conference
The Final Plenary Conference of
South Asia Together was held from 13-15th November
2005. The Final Plenary Conference focused on the
issue of Human Freedoms in South Asia as a binding
theme and a background paper on ‘Human Freedoms:
The South Asian Problematic’ jointly authored
by Dr. V. A. Pai Panadikar and Dr Rahul Tripathi,
was circulated to the participants in advance. The
participation this time was widened to include youth
with experience as several eminent South Asians with
illustrious background in policymaking, academia,
non governmental sector and media were invited to
share their thoughts and experiences with the younger
delegates who were recommended by institutions of
repute.
The three-day conference was divided
into different thematic sessions with the focus on
the issues of Human freedoms- cultural, social, political
and economic, Peace and Security and Regional Cooperation
in South Asia. With the background paper as the reference
point, the discussions were held in an unstructured
format with the participants expressing their views
on the key problems in ensuring human freedoms, peace
and cooperation in the South Asian Region. The need
for focus on the people of South Asia rather than
the state was maintained-as emphasized during the
earlier two dialogues. The participants came out with
some very important recommendations to create a better
South Asia and expressed keen interest in continuation
of the activities of South Asia Together in the next
phase.
In light of this, the project has
been able to so far create a community of younger
people within the south Asian region who share their
views and vision for a secure and a prosperous South
Asia. There is a desire within this community to broaden
and deepen the level of interaction as expressed at
the conclusion of the Final Plenary Conference. Viewed
in its entirety, it is felt that the project has been
able to maintain the focus on youth guided by the
wisdom and experience of some of the eminent South
Asians. In this regard, we note with deep satisfaction
that former Prime Minister of India Shri Inder
Kumar Gujral, who has been the architect
of India’s beneficial interaction with our neighbours
and was the Chief Guest in the Final Plenary Conference,
actively took a very keen interest in the deliberations
and assured continued involvement.
South
Asia Study Group
South Asia Study Group was launched
consisting of younger members from academia, business,
NGOs and media. The main objective of the group, which
expects to meet regularly, is to discuss the local,
national and global issues relating to South Asia
from a multidisciplinary perspective. Three events
have been organized by the Group so far, which includes
a brainstorming session on aims and objectives of
the group, a talk by former Ambassadors C
V Ranganathan and Deb Mukherjee on
India and Her Neighbours, and a discussion on an Article
on Civil Society and its institutions by renowned
Sociologist Prof. Andre Beteille.
The Future
With a growing participation, it
is hoped that South Asia Together will be sufficiently
strengthened to carry on the task of deepening multiple
level interaction among the youth of South Asia. It
strives to be a continuously evolving initiative.
The bonding created and the issues discussed will
continue to inspire the 'Peace Community' to work
tirelessly to achieve a secure and prosperous South
Asia. It will also try to establish links with other
initiatives and individuals sharing similar ideas
in the South Asian region. The entire proceedings
of the First Plenary Conference, Working Group Meetings
and the Final Plenary Conference will be published
and disseminated in the region.
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