South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation: Evolution and Prospects

Abstract Regionalism is a product of the dynamics of world politics. The major powers have often sought to create regional orders in various parts of the world in pursuance of their economic and strategic interests. In South Asia there has been no history of security-oriented regionalism with the exception of Pakistan's participation in U.S. initiated military alliance systems. Though the idea of greater regional co-operation has always been implicit in regional interactions, some specific moves were made in the late seventies towards regionalism in South Asia. These moves assumed greater significance and urgency when Bangladesh made a specific proposal in May 1980, in the then prevailing context of Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. Both India and Pakistan had strong reservations towards a security-oriented/inspired regional co-operation move. What emerged instead was, however, a development-oriented framework of regional cooperation, which since 1985 bears the name: South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC). India has since been keen to expand the developmental agenda of SAARC so as to include sectors like trade, industry, energy, etc. No regionalism move can be devoid of political undercurrents and South Asia is no exception in this respect. Many of India's neighbours have been actively using SAARC as an instrument of political diplomacy in relation to India, despite the fact that the SAARC charter prohibits bilateral and contentious issues. Their domestic political imperatives and compulsions of policy towards India are the main driving factors behind such endeavours. The easy agreement in the SAARC to work collectively towards fighting terrorism, notwithstanding divergence in the perspectives of the South Asian countries on this issue, can be seen as an example of domestic compulsions on regional policy. Some of the Western sympathisers of the SAARC sympathisers would be happy to see SAARC develop specific security underpinnings. Whether the SAARC assumes a political and strategic profile and role or not, one thing seems definite, viz. that until the political and strategic atmosphere in the region becomes more harmonious, this regional Association may not achieve any significant advances even in the economic and developmental arena.