Stardate 64251.6
12:20 - The Bush School hosted the honorable Ambassador Sheel Kant Sharma as a part of India Day at Texas A&M. Amb. Sharma currently resides as the Secretary General of the South Asia Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) since March 2008. Amb. Sharma has a PhD in High Energy Physics and has concentrated his diplomatic efforts in nuclear issues, but now deals with a variety of issues facing South Asia. He presented on the current issues facing SAARC and their accomplishments thus far.
Two topics that caught my attention during Amb. Sharma's speech were the issues of the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) and the transportation barriers within the region that prevent trade. So, Focus Foxies, I actually asked a question during the Q&A period. I know I may seem like a fairly confident person, but I have been extremely scared to ask a question. This time was no exception. With my hands shaking, I asked about the role of agriculture in SAFTA and any lessons learned and take-aways for the international community. His response was that agriculture poses a huge barrier in creating a Free Trade Agreement within this region. Each country has the ability to have a list of goods/services that they wish to continue to protect, and many of the countries within this region choose to protect agriculture goods. Amb. Sharma explained that reasoning behind this was each country's wish to protect farmers from external competition because many farmers' ability to make a living has diminished. However, two years ago during the Global Food Crisis, India banned the export of rice and other food sources causing backlash in Bangladesh and Nepal who depend on Indian food exports. After this question, I got really bold. I mean truly bold; I asked a second question about how the region planned on restoring their transportation connections between countries and on financing the endeavor. To which he responded, the countries within SAARC are attempting to improve the economic situation through penning agreements on motor vehicle transportation to decrease transportation prices. Funding would come from the individual countries.
After the presentation, we were able to have a sit down lunch with Ambassador Sharma to have a personal discussion. He explained that he started his Foreign Service career at 21 while he was finishing his PhD. In India, one must take an excruciating exam in order to be accepted into the Foreign Service. Amb. Sharma admitted he only took the exam because his family teased him enough that he could not pass the exam and he wanted to prove them wrong. He disclosed that in the end, the joke was really on him because of the toughness of the exam and the fact that his family was right. He excelled in the Foreign Service by combining his technical background and his knowledge of the world. Also, he complimented the Disaster City located by the airport, saying he wanted to combine forces with TEEX to help SAARC advance their emergency management technique. Upon asking him a third question, he elaborated that SAARC is currently ratifying an agreement that would focus on emergency response and recovery in disasters occurring within the region. He admitted that if the agreement was working at this time, the floods in Pakistan would have received aid. Also, he sited US help in running earthquake scenarios with the help of Hawaii Disaster Response teams.
Being able to get answers and discuss my three favorite topics in economic development was a fantastic experience. I encourage all of you, Focus Foxies, to stop by the Brown Bag lectures, and I will let you know when and where they are (for the non-bushwackers).
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