The eight member nations have a higher than usual commonality in terms of history, cultural influences and customs. And this would lead one to believe that a charter of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) would take impressive strides in its 29-year history. But as Saarc 2014 got underway this week in Kathmandu, the split wide open between India and Pakistan once again raised the question: Just how effective has Saarc been in addressing the concerns of its member states (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka)? And how comfortable are the other member states about this divide?
When it was founded in 1985, proposed by Bangladesh, Saarc was meant to increase regional security, economic trade and social ties. But these goals have proved to be more elusive than imagined. Increasing regional terrorism, intractable border issues between some member states, coupled with weak economic conditions in many member states, have stymied Saarc’s avowed purpose of increased regional trade, among its other aims. The single biggest criticism of Saarc is that it excludes discussion of bilateral issues of its member states from its agenda — an omission that many experts feel is its greatest stumbling block.
The brittleness that often characterises India’s ties with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, coupled with Afghanistan’s unenviable position, only gives heft to the widely held belief that Saarc is all talk and no teeth. If it has to regain its relevance, Saarc needs to create amity at its core. It is the only way forward.
