What is sauce for the goose is often not sauce for the gander. That was, in effect, the conclusion of the last meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Pakistan had pushed for the inclusion of bilateral disputes in the Saarc charter at the summit and later during the meeting of foreign secretaries. The charter does not allow discussions of political and bilateral disputes. Last year?s discussions centred on shared programmes such as poverty alleviation and stopping the financing of terrorist organizations. Cooperation in trade and the progress of the South Asian Free Trade Association, scheduled to come into force from next year, were important subjects too. The reasoning behind the exclusions in the charter cannot be faulted. Neighbouring countries, especially in as nervy a region as south Asia, are expected to have differences with each other that could sabotage all attempts at more broad-based regional cooperation if they were brought to the multilateral forum. Pakistan did not get its way last time, and it would not be a good idea for the health of Saarc to open that particular can of worms.

In this context, the decision of the Indian prime minister, Mr Manmohan Singh, not to attend the summit in Bangladesh, partly because of the changed political situation in Nepal, could be perceived as a poke at the lid of the can. Now that King Gyanendra has dissolved the democratic government in Nepal, he would be the representative from that country at the Saarc summit. One of the chief reasons for India?s crying off is that meeting the king at the same table at a regional summit would imply an acceptance of the dissolution of democracy. This logic is difficult to follow, given the Saarc charter. Political differences must be worked out between India and Nepal, they have no place at a forum which includes five other countries. The unilateral decision also makes the summit impossible on the planned date, since it cannot be held if one of the member countries is absent. Yet India stands to gain a great deal from the health of Saarc, because the increase in the bargaining power of a trade bloc in south Asia is likely to benefit India most. Condemnatory neighbours cannot force democracy back into a country, and a unilateral decision taken in a multilateral forum is not the best democratic behaviour either.