[The very caption of the news story reproduced below says it all. Evidently China is pushing for full membership of the SAARC to expand its reach; and is making use of its quite considerable diplomatic/economic clout to mobillise support and make the "friendly" countries within the SAARC plead its case. Understandably, as an "observer", it cannot plead its own case on the SAARC platform. Pakistan is, of course, an old ally. Nepal as the host country this time, one'd guess, plays a prominent role in setting the agenda. And, it is sandwiched between much larger, and stronger, China, on the one hand, and India, also fairly big and having multi-dimensional traditional links, on the other. So, even with the Maoists out of power, it can hardly afford to displease China. China, btw, has developed close relations with Sri Lanka as well. It has also apparently good working relations with Bangladesh too. But India openly opposing, the proposal, remains just that. It is, however, rather unlikely to stop China deepening its ties with other SAARC countries and expand its footprints in the region to the chagrin of the Indian regime.]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dragons-shadow-looms-over-Saarc/articleshow/45290211.cms Dragon's shadow looms over Saarc TNN | Nov 27, 2014, 02.09 AM IST Dragon's shadow looms over Saarc South Asian leaders at Saarc summit, where China flaunted support from many countries despite being an observer. NEW DELHI: With a promised investment of $30 billion in the south Asian region over the next 5 years, China's shadow loomed large over the Saarc summit here. Beijing said at the summit here that it was willing to "elevate'' its relationship with the regional body which has been dominated by India until now. Pakistan sought this elevation in status for both China and South Korea, both observers, at a foreign ministry-level meeting here earlier this week and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called for greater interaction with observer countries. ***Pakistan's position was along expected lines but India would be more worried about Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa too saying in his address here Wednesday that it was "imperative'' for south Asian countries to engage with observers for their own "capacity-building'' initiatives. In fact, Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina too expressed the same sentiment about engaging observers.*** [Emphasis added.] China is looking to increase its annual trade volume to $150 billion with Saarc nations in the next 5 years. Beijing was represented at the summit by its vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin who said that China wanted to expand business links with countries in south Asia to facilitate economic growth in the region. While President Xi Jinping had assured India of support for its membership of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), he had at the same time sought cooperation from New Delhi for Beijing's role in Saarc. Indian officials had later clarified that this was not a condition put forward by China for its support to India in SCO. India is currently an observer at the six-nation central Asia security group - dominated by Russia and China - which many see as an important player in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US-led international forces. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
