India, identity card

India, with its 3.300.000 sq. km. surface offers an infinite range of scenarios. The extreme north is dominated by the Himalayan range and by enormous mountains which divide the country from China and from these mountains originate the mythical rivers Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra. On the west India borders on Pakistan and on east Bangladesh and Burma.  Inside the great Indian subcontinent extends the great panorama like the Northern Hindustan and other plateaus like the Deccan Plateau.

Being vast India is characterised by the different climate oceans even if in general one could speak of tropical climate with heavy monsoons characterizing diversity of the land. These monsoons bring heat/humidity with heavy showers in summer season. The temperature varies between 20°and 40°C in New Delhi, the capital of India while in Mumbai it reaches up to 38°C.

India with more than a 1000 million population is classified amongst the countries with the highest population. The country is characterized by a great cultural variety which is confirmed by 31 federal states which comprise the Union (the major cities in addition to New Delhi are Mumbai, Bangalore, and Kolkata) and a rich linguistic heritage. The commonly spoken language are 17 among which two official languages are, Hindi derived from the ancient language Sanskrit and English which is used by the various ethnic groups to communicate amongst them. Spirituality finds a fundamental importance in India, which is demonstrated by the presence of numerous religions in India amongst which Hinduism is at the first position and is practiced by 80% of the population, followed by Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism etc.

India obtained independence from the British imperial domain in 1947 and adopted a Republican form of Government with a federal structure wherein the President is the Constitutional Head.  At present Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil is the Head of the State and was elected on 25th July’ 2007. The bicameral legislature called Parliament is situated in the capital New Delhi. The two major political parties are the, BJP conservative party and Congress National Party (now United Progressive Alliance) and the latter is headed by the Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh (May 2004). The currency of India is the Indian rupee.

The history of India is of ancient origin, the first traces of civilization can be traced back to 2800 B.C., to the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro where a strong understanding of business had already been developed.  The archaeological findings recovered also give testimony to the presence of Aryans coming from high planes of Iran and to whom are credited the sacred texts of Vedas that form the very base of Hinduism.

In the ancient chronology of History of India are manifest the rules of imperial dynasties like that of the Mauryas, the sovereign rule of Ashoka for the first time brought unification of the subcontinent around 250 B.C. and the Guptas who governed for approximately 3 centuries up to almost the beginning of Arab invasion at the dawn of 700 A.D.  During that period Islam was introduced in the Indian Culture which was later on forced on the people with the establishment of the Mughal Empire in1500 AD.

In four thousand years India has known multiple foreign influences (Aryan, Greek, Arab, Turk, Afghan, and English) each of which enriched the already rich and profound History.  In addition to it from 1947 till date with the affirmation of a modern market economy great changes have been noted in the customs and habits of people.  It is thanks to rise in education at the base of which is the Anglo Saxon system of education.  So, it is not just a chance that the Information Technology sector at international level has a strong presence of qualified Indians.

Westernization with its strong charge of modernity is strongly evident in daily life. In the face of traditional dresses like the sari for women and kurta pyjama for men the younger generation is adopting western dresses. The consumerism has consistently increased over a period of years not only as a kind of basic necessity but also for free time.

AREA SAARC

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a political and economic organisation composed of 8 countries of South Asia. In terms of population, their sphere of influence is the largest when compared with other regional organisations; about 1.5 billion people inhabit the area.

SAARC was created on the 8th of December 1985 on the initiative of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives e Bhutan. In April 2007, during the 14th summit of the organisation, Afghanistan was enrolled as the 8th member.

The principal objectives of SAARC as detailed in the fundamental charter are:

• Promoting the welfare of the people of the member countries
• Accelerate economic growth
• Strengthen ties among the regional states
• Promoting economic, cultural, technical & scientific cooperation

 

Although the Charter does not provide for discussions regarding political disputes between Member States, the ministerial meetings have always found the right opportunity to establish albeit informal dialogues on political issues of greatest importance to the member countries.

The purpose of SAARC is to try to accelerate the economic and social development of Member States who must cooperate in the spirit of mutual trust and understanding in order to accelerate economic growth.

History & area of cooperation

At the end of 1970, the president of Bangladesh Zia Ur Rehman proposes the creation of a trade bloc composed of countries that form a part of southern Asia. This proposal is accepted by India, Pakistan and Srilanka during a meeting in Colombo in 1981. In New Delhi in August 1983, the states adopt the declaration on South Asian Regional Cooperation with which they agree on 5 areas of cooperation:

• Agriculture & rural development
• Telecommunication, science, technology & meteorology
• Health
• Transport
• Development of human resource

Successively the following areas of cooperation are added:

• Women, youth & children
• Environment & forestry

Moreover, recently, some high level working groups have been created to strengthen the collaboration in the fields of:

• Information & communication technology
• Biotechnology
• Intellectual property rights
• Tourism
• Energy

Afghanistan is added to the regional group as a result of the official request by India, and becomes a member in all respects on 3 April 2007. In April 2006, the United States and South Korea request to become official participatory observers; the same request is made by the European Union in July of the same year and by Iran in March 2007. On 2 August 2006 the foreign ministers of various countries belonging to SAARC appoint USA, the European Union and South Korea as “observators”.

Agreements on Free Trade

Over the years, members of the SAARC countries have expressed their unwillingness to sign agreements for free trade. India stipulates various trade pacts with Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, but such agreements are not concluded with Pakistan and Bangladesh, because of the economic and political tensions between the three countries.

In 1993, members of SAARC signed an agreement for the gradual reduction of tariffs within the area. Nine years later, at the 12th summit in Islamabad, is signed the South Asia Free Trade Agreement, which provides for the creation of a free trade zone in the an area that includes India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives which has a population of over 1.4 million people. According to this treaty, the members of SAARC have to bring down their duties to 20% by end 2007 and at 0% by the end of 2012.

Member Countries:

Actual members:

• Islamic republic of Afghanistan
• Peoples Republic of Bangladesh
• Kingdom of Bhutan
• The Indian republic
• The republic of Maldives
• Nepal
• Islamic Republic of Pakistan
• Socialist democratic republic of Srilanka

 

Observant nations:

• Peoples Republic of China
• European Union
• Islamic republic of Iran
• Japan
• Republic of Korea
• USA

 

Future members:

• Peoples Republic of China, this entry is strongly supported by Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal but contested by India
• Islamic Republic of Iran, as a cause of its nuclear programme it is highly improbable that Iran will become a member
• Russian Federation, that intends to become an observant country
• Union of Myanmar, that has expressed an interest to become an observator

 

Secretary General

Since March 1st, 2008 the post is held by Mr. Sheel Kant Sharma (India)