orignal article by Alauddin Masood Courtesy Daily Dawn
RENEWED efforts are being made to revive the ancient Silk Road trade, once at the heart of lucrative business relations between Asia and the West, to bring prosperity to the Central and South Asia regions.
Some 25 countries met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, in September 2011, according to informed circles, and discussed the idea of reviving the silk route trade to develop closer economic ties between Afghanistan and its neighbours.
The idea will be discussed again at the upcoming conferences on Afghanistan and its neighbours to be held in Istanbul (Turkey) on November 2 and in Bonn (Germany) on December 5.
The Istanbul conference, is expected to demonstrate its support for a secure, stable and prosperous Afghanistan inside a secure, stable and prosperous region while the Bonn Conference would move forward with the vision of a new Silk Road trade.
Since ancient times, Central and South Asia have enjoyed strong cultural, historical and commercial bonds. However, those historic linkages got disrupted in the 19th century when the Czarist Russia occupied Centrh1 Asia and Britain colonised South Asia.
In the Middle Ages, camel caravans carried merchandise, travelling on the Silk route, which connects China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asian Republics (CARs) and Europe. In his book CA Histoiy of Civilisation,5 Fernand Braudel writes: The Silk route was run by
the same tribesmen who are the truck drivers of today.
According to him, a camel caravan might consisted of five or six thousand camels, its total capacity equalling that of a very large merchant ship. It travelled like an army, with a leader, strict rules, compulsory staging posts and routine precautions against marauding nomads.
The silk route influenced Europe almost as much as the Arab conquerors, for those caravans transported not just luxury goods, but also ideas, religion, new weapons and scientific discoveries.
Since Soviet Union’s demise in 1991 and emergence of Central Asian republics Central Asia has witnessed an upsurge in international prominence. A number of outside powers became rapidly involved in influence-building in Central Asia.
During the Taliban rule when trade routes became safe/secure in Afghanistan, truck convoys, loaded with merchandise, started travelling from Peshawar to Afghanistan and on to UzbekistanTTurkinenistan, and even to Russia. But, these efforts yielded modest results because of the continued internal strife/violence in Afghanistan ? South Asia’s gateway to Central Asia.
Because of turbulence in Afghanistan, despite the vast potential, there is negligible trade between the Central Asian and South Asian countries. Other major reasons for low trade are: trust deficit, trade policies, intra-region competition and poor state of infrastructure in some states.
Central Asia is a resource- rich region, in particular in hydro-carbon and hydro-power energy for which the growing economies of South Asia have a huge appetite, while the Saarc countries possess
a great potential to provide a wide range of products to meet the needs of CARs.
The CARs also need an access to sea for their growing trade, commerce and industry and the nearest ports for them are the Pakistani ports of Karachi and Gawadar. The CARs are just 16 hours by road from Pakistan, through Afghanistan.
This time-saving, convenient and economical access to the international markets can make the goods of South Asian states, CARs and Xinjiang province of China more competitive in the global markets. However, so far the regional countries have not been able to fully exploit their potential for trade because of strife in Afghanistan.
Energy shortage has emerged as a major impediment to the growth/development of Saarc countries. Of their combined population of 1.5 billion, only 59 per cent is connected to electricity; while the rural population still relies on biomass to meet energy needs.
Fostering of cross-border energy investments and promotion of regional energy trade is important for meeting the energy shortage. A good example of such cooperation being that of the South African Power Pool created in 1995,encompassing South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This pool works satisfactorily with gains for all participating countries.
In short, revival of trade links between South Asia and Central Asia and the setting up of regional electricity grids and gas pipelines can tremendously boost economic cooperation between these two regions and also meet the growing energy needs of almost 30 per cent of the global population living there.