A PROJECT ON

NEED AND RELEVANCE OF SAARC

IN THE SUBJECT
ECONOMICS

SUBMITTED BY

NAME: KHUSHBOO LANGALIA
ROLL NO.: 26 DIVISION: A

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF
PROF. JOSE AUGUSTINE
TO
UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI
FOR
MASTER OF COMMERCE PROGRAMME (SEMESTER - I)
YEAR: 2013-14
SVKMS
NARSEE MONJEE COLLEGE OF COMMERCE &ECONOMICS
VILE PARLE (W), MUMBAI 400056.

EVALUATION CERTIFICATE


This is to certify that the undersigned have assessed and evaluated the project
on NEED AND RELEVANCE OF SAARC submitted by KHUSHBOO
LANGALIA student of M.Com. Part - I (Semester I) for the academic year
2013-14. This project is original to the best of our knowledge and has been
accepted for Internal Assessment.

Name & Signature of Internal Examiner

Name & Signature of External Examiner




PRINCIPAL
Shri Sunil B. Mantri





DECLARATION BY THE STUDENT

I, KHUSHBOOLANGALIA student of M.Com. (Part I) Roll No.: 26
hereby declare that the project titled Need and Relevance of SAARC for the
subject ECONOMICS submitted by me for Semester I of the academic year
2012-13, is based on actual work carried out by me under the guidance and
supervision of PROF. JOSE AUGUSTINE. I further state that this work is
original and not submitted anywhere else for any examination.


Place:

Date:

Name & Signature of Student






ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is indeed a great pleasure and proud privilege to present this project
work.

I thank my project guide Prof. Jose Augustine and my M.Com.
Co-ordinator Prof. Harish Sharma of SVKMs Narsee Monjee College of
Commerce and Economics. Their co-operation and guidance have helped
me to complete this project.

I would sincerely like to thank the principal of our college
Shri Sunil B. Mantri for his support and guidance.

I would also like to thank the college library and staff for helping and
guiding me, the class representatives and my family and friends who
supported me in this project.

THANK YOU


CONTENT

Sr. No. PARTICULARS

Page No.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION 6
1.2 SAARC CHARTER 8
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF SAARC 9
1.4 PRINCIPLES 10
1.5 SECRATARIAT 11

CHAPTER II NEED AND RELEVANCE

2.1 NEED AND IMPORTANCE 11
2.2 RELEVANCE OF SAARC 16
2.3 EXPECTATIONS OF SAARC 17
2.4 POLITICAL RELEVANCE OF SAARC 21




CHAPTER III ACHIEVEMENTS

3.1 CO-OPERATION ON SOCIAL ISSUES 26
3.2 CO-OPERATION ON ECONOMIC ISSUES 29
3.3 CO-OPERATION IN INTERNATIONAL FORUMS 30


CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION

4.1 CONCLUSION 31


APPENDIX

5.1 BIBLIOGRAPHY 32













SAARC

INTRODUCTION
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an organisation of
South Asian nations, which was established on 8 December 1985 when the
government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka
formally adopted its charter providing for the promotion of economic and social
progress, cultural development within the South Asia region and also for friendship
and cooperation with other developing countries. It is dedicated to economic,
technological, social, and cultural development emphasising collective self-reliance. Its
seven founding members are Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and
Bangladesh. Afghanistan joined the organisation in 2007. Meetings of heads of state
are usually scheduled annually; meetings of foreign secretaries, twice annually. It is
headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. The SAARC logo shows two hands joining
together. There are seven doves in between the two hands. The two hands symbolize
friendship and goodwill. Seven doves represent the seven member nations seeking
peace.




SAARC CHARTER

Desirous of promoting peace, stability, amity and progress in the region
through strict adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter and Non-
Alignment, particularly respect for the principles of sovereign equality, territorial
integrity, national independence, non-use of force and non-interference in the internal
affairs of other States and peaceful settlement of all disputes.

Conscious that in an increasingly interdependent world, the objectives of peace,
freedom, social justice and economic prosperity are best achieved in the South Asian
region by fostering mutual understanding, good neighbourly relations and meaningful
cooperation among the Member States which are bound by ties of history and culture.

Aware of the common problems, interests and aspirations of the peoples of South
Asia and the need for joint action and enhanced cooperation within their respective
political and economic systems and cultural traditions.

Convinced that regional cooperation among the countries of South Asia is mutually
beneficial, desirable and necessary for promoting the welfare and improving the
quality of life of the peoples of the region.

Convinced further that economic, social and technical cooperation among the
countries of South Asia would contribute significantly to national and collective self-
reliance.

Recognising that increased cooperation, contacts and exchanges among the countries
of the region will contribute to the promotion of friendship and understanding among
their peoples.

Recalling the Declaration signed by their Foreign Ministers in New Delhi on August
2, 1983 and noting the progress achieved in regional cooperation.

Reaffirming their determination to promote such cooperation within an institutional
framework.


OBJECTIVES OF SAARC

The objectives and the aims of the Association as defined in the Charter are:

to promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and to improve their quality of
life;

to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the
region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realize
their full potential;

to promote and strengthen selective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia;
to contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another's
problems;

to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social,
cultural, technical and scientific fields;

to strengthen cooperation with other developing countries;

to strengthen cooperation among themselves in international forums on matters of
common interest; and

to cooperate with international and regional organisations with similar aims and
purposes.

to maintain peace in the region


PRINCIPLES OF SAARC

The principles are as follows :

Respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, political equality and independence of all
members states

Non-interference in the internal matters is one of its objectives

Cooperation for mutual benefit

All decisions to be taken unanimously and need a quorum of all eight members

All bilateral issues to be kept aside and only multilateral(involving many countries)
issues to be discussed without being prejudiced by bilateral issues

Afghanistan was added to the regional grouping on April 2007, With the addition of
Afghanistan, the total number of member states were raised to eight (8). In April
2006, the United States of America and South Korea made formal requests to be
granted observer status. The European Union has also indicated interest in being
given observer status, and made a formal request for the same to the SAARC
Council of Ministers meeting in July 2006. On 2 August 2006 the foreign ministers
of the SAARC countries agreed in principle to grant observer status to the US, South
Korea and the European Union. On 4 March 2008, Iran requested observer status.
Followed shortly by the entrance of Mauritius. Myanmar has expressed interest in
upgrading it's status from an observer to a full member of SAARC, while Russia is
interested in becoming an observer.






SECRATARIAT

The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987 and was
inaugurated by Late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal.
It is headed by the Secretary General appointed by the Council of Ministers from
Member Countries in an alphabetical order for a three-year term. He is assisted by
the Professional and the General Service Staff, and also an appropriate number of
functional units called Divisions assigned to Directors on deputation from Member
States. The Secretariat coordinates and monitors implementation of activities, prepares
for and services meetings, and serves as a channel of communication between the
Association and its Member States as well as other regional organisations.
The Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of the Secretariat which was
signed by Foreign Ministers of member countries on 17 November 1986 at Bangalore,
India contains various clauses concerning the role, structure and administration of the
SAARC Secretariat as well as the powers of the Secretary-General.
In several recent meetings the heads of state or government of member states of
SAARC have taken some important decisions and bold initiatives to strengthen the
organisation and to widen and deepen regional co-operation.
The SAARC Secretariat and Member States observe 8 December as the SAARC
Charter Day1.


NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF SAARC
Though South Asia was relatively late in evolving an institutional framework, the
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) is a name of hope and
expectation for the people of South Asia. In spite of economic trouble, South Asia
has significant potentialities for overall development.
After the end of the Second World War, different types of functional institutions
were created to ensure security, cooperation as well as economic development. Apart
from the United Nations, to make the third world countries out of bloc politics, it
was the need of the then time to establish an institutional body like the Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM), on the other hand, despite being aligned with the US bloc, the
Western European states felt the necessity to establish another sort of institutional
body that would ensure regional development which gradually led to the creation of
the best instance of functionalism the European Union. Though the EU is considered
the most effective model of regional integration because of free trade, free border and
common currency, it had to face the huge challenges like satisfying the US in one
hand and on the other hand to restore the economic capability in the post war period
as well as to avoid chaos and conflict and maintaining smooth relationship with one
another. The immense success of the EU was definitely one of the encouraging
factors for the leaders of South Asia to be assembled under a common umbrella as
paragraph 1 of the preamble of the Saarc Charter states, "Desirous of promoting
peace, stability, amity and progress in the region through strict adherence to the
principles of the United Nations Charter and Non-Alignment, particularly respect for
the principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, national independence, non-use
of force and non-interference in the internal affairs of other States and peaceful
settlement of all disputes". At the same time paragraph 4 stresses the importance of
regional cooperation which states "Convinced that regional cooperation among the
countries of South Asia is mutually beneficial, desirable and necessary for promoting
the welfare and improving the quality of life of the peoples of the region." So from
the above view, it becomes clear that regional cooperation is the precondition to
acquire acceptability from the great sphere.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, international politics took new shape in
different manners but the weight of the regional cooperation did not reduce rather in
many regard the regional bodies tightened their integrity for the sake of their own
security in the uni-polar world structure. It was visible that after the end of cold war,
economic development was the central focus through regionalism. Another significant
factor in the post cold war international system is the vibrant presence of
globalization which has obviously made the trade and investment that are considered
the main areas of economic development of a country a complete trans-national
factors for sustaining economic networking around the globe. In this respect, the
South Asian countries started facing different problems for which in spite of having
potentialities to ensure economic development they failed to secure the desired goals.
There are different matters responsible for the poor rate of achievement through trade
and investment which includes firstly, the existence of complimentary rather than
competitive trade and absence of uniform economic structure to ensure
competitiveness; secondly, the internal policy of trade restrictions of some of the
countries are considered as barrier of trade liberalization without which the regional
institutions will not be able to reach to their desired destination; thirdly, there are
common tendencies of almost all the states of South Asia to maintain good
relationship with the states outside the region and even depending on them for
financial aid without cultivating within the own region; fourthly, though it is well
recognized that connectivity is the pre-requisite for attaining mutual benefit through
trade liberalization, the states though recognized the importance of it, yet to
implement it; fifthly, the abovementioned limitations are the by-product of different
other problems within the region like the problem of Kashmir, Siachen, illegal
immigration, terrorism, sharing the waters of common rivers and trade and transit
facilities and unless resolving these problems cooperation cannot be successful.
Bilateral disputes among South Asian countries spill over into the regional domain in
the form of distrust and hostility.
As it has mentioned the importance of the regionalism and also it is realized that the
development of institutional framework in South Asia started in late, in fact Saarc
came into existence after thirty years of the birth of the European Community (1957,
today's EU and twenty years of the establishment of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (Asean), So comparing the other significant institutions in this regard
Saarc is already behind and it should find out its own mechanism to make-up the
deficits comparing with the same level bodies.
There are many possible ways to make Saarc more effective than it is now. Firstly,
since it is apparent to all that bi-lateral problems are the main blockages behind its
successful operation, article 10(2) of Saarc charter should be abolished and a conflict
management unit within the framework of Saarc can accelerate the spirit of Saarc;
secondly, the Saarc countries can establish a Saarc Parliament to ensure the
accountability of the member state as well as to make effective role in promoting the
democratic institutions; thirdly, the matter of connectivity within the Saarc countries
as consented by the members earlier should be implemented which will be very much
helpful for enlarging the people-to-people cooperation and minimizing the differences
as well; fourthly, establishing a Saarc working group within all the member states,
will enable the policy level of the members to pick-up the burning issues related to
regional as well as national development; fifthly, it is well recognized that terrorism
and the negative consequences of global climatic change are the common problems
for the Saarc countries, a greater consensus among the states regarding these issues
will enable them fight against them.
Finally, it is noticeable that though Saarc represents the expectations of the people of
this region, the opinion of the people are not reflected in the summit level decisions,
it is also relevant to mention here that not only the people, even the policy makers
are not well informed yet about the tentative agenda of the summit level meeting. As
this region represents one-fifth of the world population, desires of people must be
included in such important Summit discussion.

ESTABLISHMENT OF SAARC
South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) is an association of the
developing countries of South Asia. On the occasion of the 26th inauguration of the
Advisory Committee of Colombo Plan in 1977, His Majesty King Birendra Bir
Bikram Shah Dev called upon the representatives to co-operate for the development
of water resource. The initiation for the organization was made by the President of
Bangladesh in 1980. Then the foreign ministers of the 7 countries met in New Delhi
in 1983 and adopted declaration of South Asian Regional Co-operation. Eventually,
SAARC organization was formally established at Dhaka summit meeting held in 1985.
According to the World bank Report 1980, about 75 percent people of this region are
poor. So the main problem of this organization is the elimination of poverty. Another
aim of this organization is to do away with economic and social imbalance of the
member states. In order to promote mutual co-operation and good faith among the
citizens of SAARC countries, the first SAARC festival was held in India from
October 9 to 24, 1992. It was attended by actors, literati, musicians, singers,
archaeologist, dancers and journalists.


Activities:
SAARC has been conducting various activities. Ten conferences have been held so
far.
1. In the first Summit conference held in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, on
December 7 and 8 1985, different aspects of development and security were
discussed.
2. In the Second Summit conference held in banlor, India on 16th and 17th
November 1986, decision taken were to establish SAARC secretariate in
Kathmandu, to preserve children's right and to eliminate terrorism from the
region.
3. The 3rd Summit conference was held in Kathmandu on Nov. 2,3,4 1987. It
was decided to establish South Asian Food Security Reserve, Agricultural
information Centre, Meteorological Research Centre, Audio-Visual Exchange
Programme and to abolish terrorist activities.
4. In the islamad Summit, conference of 1988( December 29th to 31st) discussion
was held on maintaining peace and promoting good faith and onserving 1989
AD as SAARC year against Drug Addiction and 1990 as girl year.
5. In 5th Summit conference held in Male, Maldives on 21-23rd Nov., 1990.
Decisions taken were to observe 1991 to 2000 as SAARC Decade of Girl-
Child and establish SAARC Tuberculosis Centre.
6. On December 21st, 1991, the SAARC 6th Summit was held in Colombo in
which it was decided to establish an Independent South Asia Poverty
Elimination Commission and to continue to work towards the global objectives
of "Basic Need for all" till 2000 AD.
7. The 7th SAARC summit conference was held in Dhaka on April 10-11 in
1993. In this conference, South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement was
sighned and it was decided to observe 1994 as SAARC year of the Youth.
8. In Eight SAARC summit conference that took place in New Delhi, discussion
were focussed ont he following issues: >>>Promotions of Agriculture,
communication, education and culture
o Promotion of environment and health
o Study of population activities
o Establishment of Meteorological centres
o Rural development, scientific and technological development and
development of tourist transport of women.
9. The 9th SAARC Summit was held in Male on May 12-14th, 1997. The
important decision was about the observation of 1997 as SAARC year of
Collective rule, SAARC Polio Immunization Day, Elimination of child labour
by 2010 from SAARC region, and management of shelter for all by 2000.
10. 10th SAARC summit conference took place in Colombo from Uly 29th to 31st
in 1998. The decision was about poverty elimination, population stabilization,
woman empowerment, youth and child welfare and hygenic and nutrition etc.

RELEVANCE OF SAARC

The eleventh South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit
which was supposed to be held in Kathmandu, Nepal towards November end last
year, had been postponed following concern expressed by some of the member states
over the developments in Pakistan where the democratically elected government was
overthrown. Naturally, the entire debate about SAARC and its relevance has risen
again. In fact, even though it is almost 14 years since SAARC was established and
in this period 10 summits had been held, almost every time a SAARC Summit was
held, the regional association has had to prove its relevance and legitimacy, so to
say.
The aim of this article is to examine this very question and understand the relevance,
if there is any, of the South Asian regional association. If it is held that SAARC is
relevant, the assumption follows that it is playing a positive and significant role.
There are various ways of interpreting this positive role. Some hold that SAARC can
be considered to have a positive role only if it fulfills a certain economic role and
leads the association towards greater economic integration. But such a view would be
very narrow, overlooking the dynamics of interactions among the member countries.
Every association has to play a certain political role, social role and economic role
with respect to the specific context in which it has arisen. Only after assessing these
multiple roles can we say whether the association has been relevant or has not been
relevant to the region concerned. Further, since the ground situation within which
various regional associations work differ from region to region, comparison of
SAARC's performance with other regional associations will have to be done with
caution.
At another level, success or failure of the regional association can be understood with
regard to the expectations of the member countries. When opinions are expressed that
SAARC has failed, it surely shows that it has not measured up to the expectations. It
is thus necessary to understand the kind of expectations member countries had when
they joined the association to come to an objective conclusion.

EXPECTATIONS FROM SAARC
It was in 1980 that Bangladesh first proposed institutionalisation of regional co-
operation. SAARC was finally established in 1985 after nearly four years of
preparatory meetings among the seven concerned countries, beginning from 1981.
According to the SAARC charter, the objectives of the association include promotion
of the welfare of the peoples of South Asia, to accelerate economic growth, promote
and strengthen collective self-reliance and contribute to mutual trust, understanding
and appreciation of one another's problems in the region. However, an analysis of the
expectations which each of the countries had from the association bring out certain
important aspects. Firstly, though regional co-operation etc were the stated objectives
for forming and joining the association, it is seen that each of the countries had a
specific agendaprimarily political with regard to the association. This agenda was
influenced by their perception of themselves, their countries' national interests and its
place in the region. Thus, the countries sought to fulfil these national agendas through
the regional mechanism. Secondly, therefore these motivations show that the approach
was to a certain extent negative and regional co-operation was not the primary motive
for joining the association. Every country had a clear cut political agenda to fulfil
and a political role to gain by institutionalizing regional co-operation. It is thus
imperative to briefly analyze the circumstances under which they joined the
association and their expectations therefore from the regional association.

Pakistan
Pakistan was initially apprehensive of joining the regional association primarily for
two reasons. First, that the forum would further India's hegemonistic domination over
the regions' states in an institutionalised manner. Secondly, Pakistan was also wary of
deeper involvement in the South Asian region since it would cast a doubt on the
credibility and seriousness of its efforts to develop closer ties with the Islamic
countries of West Asia. Pakistan finally decided to join the forum because it was
unwilling to isolate itself regionally.1 Further, according to an observer from Pakistan,
the regional advantage of participating in SAARC was that the arrangement could if
the need arose, "come to deflect the weight of India" vis-a-vis its smaller South
Asian partners.2 It was emphasised that Pakistan , Bangladesh, Sri Lanka , Maldives,
Bhutan and Nepal had very good, if not ideal relations with each other. However
none of the six states could be said to be enjoying tension free relations with New
Delhi. Of all the differences, the Indo-Pak relations, it was stated, were not conducive
to regional cooperation.3 It is thus evident that just as the blame for the existence of
a conflictual relationship was put on India , the onus for improvement in the state of
affairs was also exclusively put on New Delhi.
India
India, the largest country in the region was also apprehensive in joining the regional
association. First , India felt that the proposal of Bangladesh President Zia probably
had an indirect Western sponsorship. This was in the context of the second cold war
with the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan. A South Asian regional
association could be the American mechanism to counter Soviet influence. This would
result in not only the incursion of external powers in the region but also an anti-
Soviet and pro-US South Asian front, which would be incompatible with India's
regional and broader strategic interests. Secondly , India believed that the proposed
South Asian forum could be used by the smaller neighbours to put collective
pressures on it (India) on matters effecting them collectively and individually in
relation to India. Thus, in this manner the regional association would enable
neighbours to , "gang up", against India. However, India could not reject the idea
and thus proposed two principles for participation. That the organisation would not
discuss bilateral issues and that all the decisions would be taken on the basis of
unanimity.4 India was of the view that bilateral stresses and strains should not
impinge on regional cooperation.5 Further, that the objective of India was to try to
pursue regional co-operation autonomously without allowing it to be subjected to the
vicissitudes of bilateral co-operation.6 India thus approached the association with a
belief that bilateral relations and regional cooperation could be completely
compartmentalized . By adopting such an approach the dynamics of the bilateral
relations to influence the regional association or vice versa, of the association to
influence bilaterally were being deliberately overlooked.


The Smaller Member Countries-Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives
Most of the smaller member countries perceived SAARC as a platform from where,
they could together extract a better deal with India regarding the bilateral differences
which did not seem possible in a one to one dealing. They could bargain collectively
with India with a view to securing concessions on various issues including the
economic issues which were affecting them. This has to be further seen in the
background that when the process towards regional co-operation began, while India
had a democratic form of government, most of the South Asian countries were non
democratic. To legitimize their regimes they would resort to anti India rhetoric. They
looked upon India as a threat against whom security was necessary. Policies, were
thus evolved that prevented them getting closer to India and linkages were established
with outsiders which in many cases served as the critical element in consolidation of
the political power of the elite and its support base.
Bhutan saw the association as a mechanism through which it could expand its foreign
and economic relations with other countries without antagonising India9. Similarly for
Maldives too, the association of the seven countries, was an appropriate forum from
where it could air views effectively. As seen, in later years the association was used
to air its concerns regarding protection and security of small states.
Nepal considers itself to be one of the first countries to speak of regional co-
operation, though the idea was formally suggested for the first time by Bangladesh.
King Birendra had for the first time spoken of some kind of regional co-operation in
1976 while addressing the Fifth Non-Aligned Summit Conference in Colombo, Sri
Lanka. Nepal was of the view that its vast water resources could be tapped through
co-operation of other countries for the general benefit of the region.0 Nepal is not
only a landlocked country, but has borders with India on three sides . On its north is
situated the Tibet region of China . Thus it is dependent on India in many respects
including having transit to the sea. By trying to expand the number of partners to
exploit its resources and having a regional approach, Nepal reduces its dependence on
India. SAARC was to be one of the most important aspects of its foreign policy. At
the inaugural SAARC Summit in Dhaka, Nepal stated that a priceless resource exists
(untapped water resource) waiting to be harnessed for the benefit of the people of the
region.12 This enthusiasm gets clearly reflected in later years when Nepal showed its
willingness to host the various meetings and the fact that the SAARC Secretariat was
finally established in Katmandu.
According to some in Nepal, the most ardent expectation (of Nepal in 1985) from
the SAARC proposal was that it should be the most effective instrument for its
security and its political role in the region. That since regional cooperation was to be
on the basis of respect for the principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity,
political independence and mutual benefitsthe support which Nepal presumed was
coming from India to the opponents of monarchy and those championing the cause of
democracy would no longer be forthcoming . Thus, in this manner the stability and
the continuity of the monarchy could be secured.
Sri Lanka responded positively to the regional co-operation proposal. It was the first
country to have hosted any SAARC meeting. Its enthusiasm was not in any way
related. to the desire to achieve regime security because it was already an established
democracy However, the country was facing a very grave problem with regard to its
ethnic crisis which deepened as preparatory efforts towards regional co-operation were
being made and this brought strains in Indo-Sri Lankan relations. In the initial years
official meetings were disrupted by these differences. Sri Lanka considered the role
which India would play as very vital to the association. This was clearly articulated
in the inaugural session of the first summit in 1985, when President Jayawardene said
that the member countries must first trust each other. That India being the largest
country in every way, could by deeds and words create the confidence amongst the
members, so necessary to make a beginning. This clearly indicated to the expectations
Sri Lanka had from India and that the lack of trust was due to India and its actions.
Bangladesh was the country which formally proposed the idea of regional co-operation
and pursued it. President Zia personally took the idea of the SAARC to all the South
Asian capitals during 1977-80 and discussed the proposal for an institutional
framework for co-operation among these countries. Some are of the opinion that it
may have been partly conditioned by President Zia's own domestic compulsions for
achieving a breakthrough in foreign policy initiatives. It could also be that Bangladesh
had unsuccessfully tried to force a solution on India on the Ganges water problem by
internationalizing it. Having failed to do so, it wanted to adopt a regional mechanism.
The above discussion clearly reflects the varied aspirations and concerns of the
member countries on joining the regional associationSAARC. All of them were
entering into unexplored territory and were thus adopting a cautious approach. Most
important , their agendas were not strictly limited to regional co-operation.

POLITICAL RELEVANCE OF SAARC
Flowing from the above is the question whether it is wrong to have the regional
association fulfill the national interests and agendas of these countries. For, finally
one of the aims of regional cooperation is to have stability in the region. Does such
an attitude lead to stability of the region? If it does, should it not be welcomed? If
the answer is in the affirmative, it clearly implies that SAARC has political
relevance. Other associations also show that they started in a similar way, whereby
national agendas were sought to be achieved and fears and doubts were sought to be
removed through regional cooperation. Later these were to move towards developing
into deeper forms of regional co-operation. Seen with reference to the European
Communityit is observed that the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
established in 1951 was the first step towards closer regional co-operation which had
finally led to the formation of the European Union. The fears of Europe, of the
possibility of a resurgent Germany led to the formation of the ECSC which resulted
in the joint control of coal and steel which were considered essentials for entering
into war, thus making it physically impossible for members to go to war with each
other again.
The political role of SAARC comes out very clearly when it is observed with
reference to the manner in which relations are structured in South Asia. They are
characterised by asymmetry with the scales tilted heavily in favour of India on one
side and all the others on the other side. A sense that the relations are indeed
unequal, strikes one immediately . The inequalities are inbuilt with respect to the
geographical dimension, demographic magnitude , economic resource base, production
structures and growth potentials , and above all their armed forces and military
capabilities. Relations between India and most of the member countries have been
characterized by mistrust and suspicion . This was especially so during the mid
eighties when the SAARC process had begun. Only India has common borders with
all the member countries while none of them share borders. The smaller member
countries have always looked with suspicion towards India and considered it to be a
hegemonic power. Flowing from this asymmetry is that the security perceptions of
India and the member countries are also divergent. As a result the policies adopted
by India and the other member countries are different which only increases the
mutual suspicion. However, by being members of SAARC whereby the principle of
consensus and unanimity works, there is a sense of equality, which these countries
have with regard to India. In this manner , the sense of asymmetry is cut down
symbolically.
In a scenario where India's relations with its neighbours are strained and there is a
tendency for bilateral relations to affect the overall relations, it is observed that the
regional association has had a very useful role to play. The SAARC forum and
especially the summit meetings provide an opportunity to all the nations to maintain
continuity in their bilateral dialogue. There is a silent acknowledgement by many,
including the political leaders of the member countries, that while the official bilateral
meetings may face rough weather, the member countries have been regularly meeting
at the various SAARC Forums.
It is very difficult to answer if the SAARC informal meetings have in any way
helped in bringing the countries closer to each other and resolving their bilateral
differences. One can safely say that while it might not have brought the member
countries closer it has provided a useful link for the member countries. At times of
crisis, it has helped to defuse the short term misunderstandings, which are only
possible when the heads of the countries meet to give confidence to the people.
Similarly, the meetings have helped to restart and give direction to the often-
deadlocked official bilateral dialogue.
For example, the Indo-Pak relations have been given a boost time and again from the
informal meetings that have been held on the sidelines. Though looking back one can
say that the substantive nature of bilateral relations between these two countries have
still not changed, the significant role of the informal bilateral relations cannot be
overlooked.
A few examples will help to give a clearer picture. At the very first meeting at
Dhaka in 1985, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President Zia met informally and
discussed bilateral issues. This was followed by a bilateral visit to India by Gen .Zia
where the discussions continued.
Prior to the second SAARC summit in Bangalore, India, in November 1986, the air
was tense in the sub-continent regarding some report of Indian troop movements on
the western borders and that it was preparing to attack Pakistan. At the close of his
visit to India , Prime Minister Junejo of Pakistan expressed the view that the
discussions with his Indian counterpart had helped to clear the air between the two
countries and that there was no substance in the reports of unusual troop movement.
Even the media in Pakistan was almost unanimous in expressing that the summit may
have helped in clearing the air and that SAARC in the long run may be expected to
create a better climate of trust and co-operation.
Another significant summit was the fourth SAARC summit held in Islamabad. Though
not informally, yet Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi did extend his stay for a few hours
after the conclusion of the summit meetings and the two countries held official
bilateral meetings. The two countries signed three agreements relating to avoidance of
double taxation on mutual trade, promotion of cultural exchanges and agreement on
prohibition of attack on nuclear installations. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto welcomed
the forum of SAARC for having made the visit of Indian Prime Minister possible
and hoped that more such visits would follow.
One of the most significant meetings on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit was the
one between Nawaz Sharif and Gujral at the Ninth Summit in Male in 1997.
Following their meeting, the foreign secretaries of both the countries met in
Islamabad on June 19-23, 1997 and spelt out outstanding issues of concern to be
addressed by both the countries. The composite dialogue continues with breaks
whenever there are differences. Nevertheless, it was the Male Summit which
facilitated the deadlock to be broken.
The Tenth SAARC Summit in Colombo held against the background of the nuclear
tests conducted by both the countries received a great deal of worldwide attention for
events taking place on the sidelines of the summit rarther than the main Summit
proceedings itself. It was in the SAARC Forum that the leaders of the two countries
were meeting for the first time after the tests. The opportunity provided by the
SAARC summit however could not be utilised for breaking the bilateral deadlock due
to differing interpretations of the implementation of the composite dialogue agreed
upon by both the countries earlier in June 1997.
Similarly, the other countries also hold informal meetings on the sidelines . The
informal meetings at the highest level on the sidelines have played an important role
with regard to relations between India and Sri Lanka during the peak of the Tamil
ethnic crisis when India was also closely involved in finding solutions. So was the
case regarding India and Bangladesh with regard to finding a way out to the Ganges
water treaty. Presently, there are reports that Nepal and Bhutan have also met in the
sidelines to discuss the issue of refugees.




SAARC Provides an Alternative Structure
The above analysis clearly shows that SAARC does provide an alternative if not an
accompanying structure within which relations can be conducted among the member
countries. This alternative structure is very significant for the smaller member
countries who get a sense of equality and a distinct identity with regard to India in
issues concerning the region. It is also a very important mechanism for India to
manage and conduct her bilateral relations with the other member countries.
As spelt out, SAARC does provide continuity to relations among the member
countries especially when bilateral relations are at the nadir. Since the beginning of
the nineties there has been a conscious policy direction by India towards
normalisation of relations with its neighbours, especially the smaller neighbours. In
this context, the importance of the SAARC Forum for India is emerging more clearly.
In this continuum, the Gujral Doctrine too , recognising the importance of the
neighbours (especially the smaller neighbours), is based on the assumption that the
strength and stature of India cannot be divorced from the quality of the relations
which it has with its neighbours.
However, given the tumultuous past, India's intentions are looked upon with suspicion
at times. Therefore a policy by India singularly based on bilateralism, to build new
bridges with her neighbours has certain inbuilt limitations. The SAARC Forum
however, allows India to overcome many of these limitations and provides
opportunities to build positive linkages with her neighbours through regionalism. To a
certain extent it dilutes the anti-India sting which bilateralism carries with it on
certain issues. Further, a regional forum enables India to address these member
countries together and put forward policy proposals. This was specifically so at the
tenth SAARC Summit where India spelt out two specific proposals dealing with
bilateral free trade pacts in case of failure of regional free trade area and secondly,
that India will unilaterally reduce tariffs on some 2000 items. Further, it is seen that
while bilaterally the issue of transit between India and Bangladesh is met with
criticism in the latter country, the same proposal as part of the Asian Highway
Project dilutes the criticism.
Similarly for the smaller member countries too, SAARC as a forum helps to develop
bridges with India, without the government in power being criticised as seeming pro-
India within the country. It therefore means that there is a political role which
SAARC is playing at the national, bilateral and regional, levels for the member
countries, irrespective of the success or failures in areas strictly considered as part of
regional cooperation. This should be reason enough for not going into and questioning
the relevance of SAARC every time, though it is not denied that criticism and
suggestions for co-operation on issues concerning regional co-operation should be
made.
SAARC thus provides an alternative structure (in addition to the established bilateral
mechanisms) not only for India, but also for the other member countries in
conducting themselves and when required building positive linkages with each other.
During crisis times too , the smaller member countries look upon it as a forum to
pressurise India. The working of SAARC has further clearly shown that it has not
diluted the national interests of the member countries. Most important is that the
forum allows the smaller member countries to establish and develop closer relations
among themselves which would not have been the case in the absence of SAARC.
Not that it would have been impossible , but just that SAARC facilitates things.
Given the permanency of certain factors of asymmetry in the South Asian region, it
is observed that SAARC enables it to underplay these asymmetries. In this sense
SAARC has a permanent political relevance to these countries individually , bilaterally
and regionally. The means of defining the success of the regional association have
thus to be widened.

CO-OPERATION ON SOCIAL ISSUES
SAARC has from the beginning exchanged ideas on the various social issues of
concern to the member countries. In the very first summit it was reaffirmed that
challenges of poverty etc could be met only with regional co-operation. Issues
concerning children, maternal and child nutrition, provision of safe drinking water,
adequate shelter, subscribing to goals of universal immunisation and primary
educationall have been part of the SAARC social agenda. At the fourth SAARC
Summit in Islamabad, a regional plan, "SAARC: A Basic Needs Perspective", was
adopted. This was to spell out developmental targets of the member countries
regarding basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, education, primary health care etc.
At various times, particular years were designated either to the girl child, disabled
persons, year of shelter and so on. In fact the Fifth SAARC Summit decided that the
years 1991-2000 would be observed as the 'SAARC Decade of the Girl Child".
Initially the Technical Committees (TC), which included all the member countries
were the primary mechanism for continuous interaction and co-operation. Presently
there are eleven TC which include agriculture; communications; education, culture and
sports; environment and meteorology; health and population activities; prevention of
drug trafficking and drug abuse; rural development; science and technology; tourism;
transport; and women in development. The working of the TC have been examined
by eminent persons and recommendations made for improving their efficacy. These
TC are considered as the backbone of the process of regional co-operation.
Primarily co-operation in these areas has been in the form of exchanging experiences
of the member countries to address various issues, in terms of success stories as well
as the problem areas. Following the deliberations, the member countries would adopt
certain goals, which would then be incorporated in their national plans. In the post
cold war period, it is seen that global standards are being applied regarding these
issues. Unless SAARC sets its own standards, the member countries will have to face
the pressure of the developed countries. Eleven TCs meeting regularly since the past
fourteen years surely reflects the manner in which interaction at the official levels has
multiplied many fold, compared to that of the pre 1985 period.
Another positive feature has been the close linkages developed between the non
governmental organisations (NGO's) of the member countries. On certain issues, these
NGO's are setting the agenda pressurising the political class to respond and come out
with plans of action. For example this is specifically seen with regard to issues
concerning women and children and secondly, the constructive role played by the
SCCI (SAARC Chambers of Commerce and Industry) in developing and strengthening
linkages among the business class of the member countries so that they could
pressurise their respective governments to move towards closer forms of regional
economic integration.
The Group of Eminent Persons constituted at the Male Summit in 1997 , in its
report has recommended certain targets to be achieved in the social field . They
include:
l) Commitment to the target of reaching a replacement level of population which
translates into a birth rate of 21 per thousand before the year 2020.
2) Attainment of universal primary education upto the age of 15 before the year
2010. Elimination of gender disparities in access to education within the target date
of 2010.
3) Setting aside 6 per cent of GDP for education by the year 2010.
4) Reduction of infant mortality below 50 per thousand live births by the year 2000.
Attainment of 100 per cent immunisation by the year 2000 in targets set by the
UNICEF programmes.
5) Empowerment of women socially, economically and politically.
6) Holding of regular biennial Ministerial meetings on Women's Development.
7) Each member-State to set its own time frame for poverty eradication.
8) Effective utilisation of SAARC three tier mechanism on poverty alleviation to
facilitate sharing of experiences and formulation and implementation of regional
policies
9) Regular meetings at political and technical levels on the environment. Urgent
follow up on the SAARC Plan of Action on the environment.
These targets clearly bring out that to a great extent, as far as the social field is
concerned, implementation of decisions arrived at, requires to begin with national
commitments. A failure to do so cannot be blamed on either the bilateral or regional
political environment. In this sense there is a social agenda which is permanent in
nature for SAARC.
This permanency is further reinforced by the fact that , some of the problems like
those dealing with environment (floods, soil erosion etc), drug trafficking, and
trafficking in women and children, illegal movement of peopleare not national
problems but regional, requiring regional solutions. It is these problems which give
rise to an exclusive SAARC agenda which has to be addressed despite all the
prevailing potential political problems.

CO-OPERATION ON ECONOMIC ISSUES
SAARC provides the forum whereby the seven member countries can discuss co-
operation on various economic issues. It took ten years before SAARC could actually
take off with the operationalization of SAPTA in 1995. Since then three rounds of
tariff concessions have been exchanged. A common complaint of course is the limited
coverage of goods under SAPTA. Of late the smaller member countries are convinced
that tariff preferences for trade in itself will not bring prosperity unless it is
accompanied by investments in their countries to improve their narrow industrial base.
Presently, it is in this regard that discussions on measures for encouraging intra
SAARC investment and joint ventures are also being focussed upon and proposals for
a Regional Investment Treaty and a SAARC Arbitration Council have also been
initiated. Similarly is the case with Double Taxation Avoidance. All these are
expected to accelerate the process of economic cooperation in the region. It should be
emphasized that it is the permanent SAARC Forum which allows all these
deliberations to take place in a continuous manner. That major success has eluded the
forum does not in any way diminish the utility of the forum. It indicates the need
for greater exchange of views so that fears and apprehensions can be addressed and
overcome.
When SAARC was formed, it did not envisage that sub-regional co-operation will be
adopted too. Initially there was a lot of reservation among the SAARC countries not
included in the growth quadrangle proposed to be formed between Bhutan,
Bangladesh, Nepal and the north eastern parts of India. The countries concerned
stressed that sub-regional co-operation would help in evolving solutions to the
development needs of that particular area . At the Ninth SAARC Summit it was
agreed that specific projects for sub regional co-operation would be encouraged under
the provision of Article 7 and Article 10 of the Charter. The Bangladesh-Bhutan-
India-Nepal Growth Quadrangle (BBIN- GQ) is to follow a project led approach to
co-operation in the core economic areas of Multimodal Transportation and
Communication, Energy, Trade and Investment Facilitation and Promotion, Tourism,
Optimal Utilisation of Natural Resource Endowments and Environment. These projects
are to be supportive of and complementary to the national plans of the four
concerned countries. These projects will make best use of neighbourhood synergies
and would be such that they can most productively be dealt with on a sub regional
basis. Nepal will co-ordinate the overall sub-regional co-operation efforts.23
It was the experience of regional economic co-operation under SAARC in the form
of SAPTA, which later led to suggestions for sub regional co-operation. The
permanent institutional structure of SAARC enables deliberations to take place on
developing other forms of regional economic co-operation. In this sense, despite the
low measure of success of the preferential tariff arrangement in SAARC, the
associations' economic relevance is not diminished.
CO-OPERATION IN INTERNATIONAL FORUMS
The leaders have repeatedly stressed the need to develop common South Asian
perspective on the issues to be discussed by the important international
Conferences.24 In this direction, they noted with satisfaction that collective positions
of the SAARC countries were formulated which were presented at the World
Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction and the World Summit for Social
Development.25 At the Tenth SAARC Summit the leaders expressed the opinion that
in the series of meetings to be organised by the WTO regarding various issues, the
member states should endeavour to co-ordinate their decisions. In this context they
welcomed the declaration issued by the SAARC Commerce Ministers on the eve of
the Second WTO Ministerial Meeting in Geneva setting out a SAARC approach on
these issues.26 Such interactions are only sure to increase in the near future.

CONCLUSION
The above analysis clearly brings out that SAARCthe regional association has
multiple roles to play. It should not be assessed just with regard to what it has or
has not done with regard to regional co-operation per se, but its importance lies for
the countries individually in enhancing their national prestige, managing their bilateral
relations and having a regional identity. This comes out clearly when the expectations
of the member countries at the time of joining the association are examined which
were not strictly limited to the desire of regional co-operation. Its importance comes
forth particularly with reference to a region which is characterized by asymmetry.
SAARC helps in these identities which have their own symbolic importance as well
as practical utility. These symbolic aspects help to reduce these asymmetries in terms
of identities. In this sense there is a permanent political contribution of SAARC and
herein lies its relevance.
The analysis has also brought out that there exist areas where co-operation in social
areas has taken place. Regional co-operation becomes all the more essential in a
scenario where challenges in the present and the future are trans-border in nature
requiring regional approach and not national solutions. The economic areas of co-
operation have not shown much success but SAARC has widened its areas of
interaction and presently is experimenting with sub-regional co-operation.
Thus the success or failure of the regional association cannot be measured in a
vacuum. It should be done so with regard to the expectations of the member
countriestheir national, bilateral and regional agendas. Secondly, it has to be done
with regard to the ground situation prevailing in the region whereby SAARC since its
inception has provided an alternative structure to conduct relations among the member
states.
While trying to write the report card of the regional associationSAARC which was
established fourteen years agoone should be very clear that the answer cannot be
either categorical 'pass' or 'fail'. That would be a very narrow way of looking at
things. For that matter any regional association in the world has a mixed bag of
resultscertain areas in which they have achieved success, in others failed to take
off and in still other issues where new mechanisms of co-operation are being
developed.
Moreover, SAARC (and for that matter any regional association) leads two parallel
lives which however are not completely disconnected. First is one which is deeply
linked to the individual aspirations of the member countries and how SAARC gives
them identity and the means of expression. The second is that where there is a
regional agenda and SAARC stands above all the countries put together. The above
analysis has brought out the permanence of the first and the growing importance of
the second.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1) Secondary data resources