Despite colossal challenges of poverty, illiteracy and disease, the 21st Century has great pros pects for Asia. Let us consider some basic facts to support this view;

1. Asia’s total population of 3.8 billion is 65 percent of the world’s population and represents the largest concentration of human resources – the most precious of all resources.
2. In the past 20 years, Asia’s economic growth rate has been faster than any other region in the world. In fact, all the fastest growing economies of the world during this period have been in Asia and include China, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and more recently India and Pakistan.
3. The most spectacular growth performance comes from China which has maintained an average annual growth rate of 10% for the past 20 years, leading to a four-fold increase in per capita incomes. This performance is unprecedented in human history and since China’s population is one third of the Asian population, it had a very positive impact on the economy of Asia as a whole.
4. After emerging from colonial rule in the second half of the 20th century, all the Asian countries have been giving high priority to education, science and technology. This has had a dramatic impact on the volume and composition of their exports to other Asian countries and to the rest of the world.
   
   Text of speech delivered at the 3rd International Conference of Asian Leadership on Regional Security and Multilateral Cooperation, Economic Growth and Social Progress and the Role of Political Parties in National Development, Beijing: 3-5 September 2004.
   
   There is need for an umbrella for Asian organizations to provide links and avenues of cooperation among all the Asian countries either directly or through their sub-regional organizations.
   
5. Asia has been the cradle of many ancient civilizations and great religions. It therefore contains within itself the richest cultural and social heritage of mankind. With prudence and foresight, it has the best chances of protecting itself from the onslaught of other cultures and exploitative systems and in evolving a pattern of economic and social development that combines economic progress and modernization with Asia’s own rich cultural heritage and values.
   
   These prospects can be realized only if we can, through collective efforts and closer cooperation, remove the obstacles and constraints that stand in our way.
   
   The most serious obstacles lie in the area of Regional Security. Today the world’s most serious flashpoints are in Asia. Due to the continuing occupation of Palestinian territory by Israel; non-resolution of the issue of Jammu & Kashmir and the ambitions of Western powers to control the energy resources of West and Central Asia, we continue to witness continuing turmoil in our region.
   
   Another threat to Regional Security comes from the weakening of the multilateral system. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the global system is dominated by the sole super power, which is pursuing its own national agenda on the basis of unilateralism without regard to the basic principles of multilateralism embodied in the U.N. System, evolved with so much effort in the past 50 years. Asian countries should work together to protect their vital national and regional interests, perhaps by evolving common consultative mechanism on Asian security. China, which has always identified itself with the aspirations of developing countries, can play a major role in promoting a multipolar world order, while following its commendable policy of peaceful co-existence, and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
   
   One specific area in this context which offers considerable scope for greater cooperation is that of media and mass communication which is currently dominated by Western nations. Systematic and coordinated efforts are needed to counter the negative effects of this domination by developing the capacity of Asian countries in this field.
   
   The second major problem confronting many Asian countries is poverty. Because of the density of population in Asia, two thirds of the worlds’ poorest people (about 1.2 billion) live in Asia. The challenge facing Asian countries is to protect themselves from the adverse impact of globalization, accelerate the pace of economic growth and evolve pro-poor development strategies according to their own national priorities. Here again Regional or Sub-Regional cooperation can play a major role because the global system of trade and capital movement does not provide a level playing field for developing countries. Even in W.T.O. the developed countries, by continuing their massive agricultural subsidies, are not practicing what they constantly preach to developing countries.
   
   At present there are three sub-regional cooperative organizations in Asia. The most successful of these is ASEAN – the Association of the South East Asian Nations; then there is SAARC- The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation among the seven South Asian nations and E.C.O. – the 10-member Economic Cooperation Organization of Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and six Central Asian countries. There is also A.P.E.C. – the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization, which includes several Asian developing countries besides Australia, New Zealand, Japan and USA.
   
   History has shown repeatedly that a strong nation state can be built only on democratic principles i.e. the assurance that the identity, needs and priorities of each constituent entity in a federation or country will be fully protected and the chosen leader of that entity will have reasonable space to manage their own internal affairs according to their priorities.
   
   There is need for an umbrella for Asian organizations to provide links and avenues of cooperation among all the Asian countries either directly or through their sub-regional organizations.
   
   Democratic dispensations should have a policy of all inclusive set-ups, at the political parties level, as well as, in the national institutions so that our minority groups are not separated from the mainstream of national life.
   
   The Asian region needs greater communication to enhance cooperation for development and in this regard the Shanghai Protocol signed in April 2004 for strengthening rail and road communications under the aegis of UNESCAP, deserves our total political support.
   
   Finally, the role of political parties in nation-building is of paramount importance. History has shown repeatedly that a strong nation state can be built only on democratic principles i.e. the assurance that the identity, needs and priorities of each constituent entity in a federation or country will be fully protected and the chosen leader of that entity will have reasonable space to manage their own internal affairs according to their priorities. Once these principles are followed, national unity is assured and nations become stronger. If these are violated, nations collapse and get divided into many pieces. Very often, external forces and factors intervene in national affairs and disrupt the democratic framework.
   
   Greater interaction and cooperation among major political parties of Asia, can play a major role in strengthening these parties and enabling them to play an important role in national development and in regional cooperation.