South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)

Regionalism in South Asia continues to evoke intense academic interest among scholars. SAARC, an organization that was conceptualized in the early eighties, evinced both hope and despair. A hope to overcome the factitious past and move onto the path of prosperity, and the despair that was embodied in its inability to achieve its potential. The fight against poverty and the path to prosperity has mostly been an individualistic journey among countries.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• January 2021
• Strategic Analysis

The convening of a video conference of the SAARC leaders by the Indian Prime Minister on March 15 to initiate a regional response to the COVID-19 pandemic came as a surprise to many countries in the region that are fighting the crisis mostly alone, scampering for testing kits, medicines and PPEs and also preparing to deal with the impeding economic crisis.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• May 2020
• Strategic Analysis

Of late the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is receiving sincere attention from its member countries as an organisation that has the potential to transform the region’s political and economic future. This is because there are several bilateral and sub-regional ongoing projects that are seeking to connect the region and bind them together into one economic whole. Apart from this, after the cancellation of the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit in 2017, many would see the BIMSTEC as an alternative to SAARC.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• July 2018
• Strategic Analysis

Given the structural fragility of SAARC and its inability to promote South Asian regional integration, an attempt to reboot the organisation would be futile.

• Rajeesh Kumar
• May 01, 2018
• Issue Brief

The reactions of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India indicate a new regional consensus that state sponsored terrorism cannot be dealt with only at the bilateral level.

• Smruti S. Pattanaik
• September 29, 2016
• IDSA Comments

SAARC satellite was an opportunity for Pakistan to display its enthusiasm for space cooperation with India, but its strategic calculations appear to have ‘jammed’ its vision.

• Ajey Lele
• April 19, 2016
• IDSA Comments

While India may wait for full cooperation of other member countries to make SAARC a success, it must take the initiative for forging more agreements in matters concerning economic and social cooperation.

• Nihar R. Nayak
• March 22, 2016
• IDSA Comments

In spite of the existence since October 2006 of a SAARC Disaster Management Centre, the Nepal earthquake brought to the fore the difficulties faced by this organization and its failure to rise to the occasion.

• Nihar R. Nayak
• June 02, 2015
• IDSA Comments

Signing of the SAARC agreement is merely the first step in the process of regional energy cooperation. To make this initiative work, governments in the region need to synchronise their efforts on a range of technical, institutional and political issues.

• Sanket Sudhir Kulkarni
• January 05, 2015
• IDSA Comments

The time has perhaps come to restructure, even partition, SAARC to make it more effective. This is something that might also be required to be done in the likely event that Pakistan fosters the Taliban in Afghanistan.

• Sushant Sareen
• November 28, 2014
• IDSA Comments