In a significant development, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has proposed that a new regional body should replace the long-dormant South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Speaking at the opening session of the 5th Islamabad Conclave hosted by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), he warned that South Asia could no longer afford to remain trapped in zero-sum mindsets, political fragmentation and dysfunctional regional architecture. Dar said Pakistan sought open and inclusive regionalism and signaled support for emerging multilateral platforms outside SAARC.
Institutions, especially multilateral platforms, take years and in many cases decades to become fully functional and effective as envisaged in the original charter, therefore, any idea to wind them up is always painful but the case of the SAARC is quite different. Established in December 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) began its journey with a strong commitment by its founding members, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, to uplift the quality of life of the people living in a region which was the least integrated and one of the most poverty-ridden regions in the world. In its formative years, from 1985 to 1989, the SAARC Summits were held regularly and several important conventions were concluded in response to pressing issues of the time. However, starting from 1989, the frequency of annual sessions began to decline. Over 22 years, from 1989 to 2011, only 12 summits were convened. Subsequently, from 2011 to now, spanning 14 years, only one summit was held in 2014. Of course, establishment of SAARC Regional Centers, South Asian University, the South Asian Development Fund, the Food Bank and the Arbitration Council were some of the outstanding achievements but overall the body miserably failed to make progress as per aspirations of the people of the region whose problems and challenges are almost similar. SAARC, once envisioned as the “EU of South Asia”, has effectively been defunct since 2016, when India boycotted the summit Islamabad was scheduled to host.
Bangladesh, under Sheikh Hasina at the time, also followed suit. Deep seated political rivalries between Pakistan and India are believed to be behind the total paralysis of the organization and its failure to move on towards the cherished objective of regional cooperation. No doubt, SAARC had the potential to make a difference in the lives of the people of the South Asian region because of the proximity factor and diverse resources of the member states but India’s bid to dominate the association and dictate its terms made the platform dysfunctional. It is unfortunate that India repeatedly indulged in blame game against Pakistan on the issue of terrorism and used it as an excuse to scuttle all regional cooperative moves and plans. SAARC has been effectively dormant since 2014 and what happened during the last eleven years showed that there was scant possibility of its revival without a change in the mindset of India, which wants to use such bodies to strengthen its political and economic dominance. There are no prospects for revival of the SAARC, especially in the backdrop of India’s posture before and after the May conflict between the two South Asian neighbours. There are reasons to believe that India wanted to use the SAARC forum only to advance its two-pronged policy of isolating Pakistan and neutralizing the impact of Chinese influence. Analysts point out that other factors behind failure of the SAARC include a general lack of political commitment from member states, economic disparities, the prevalence of terrorism and the asymmetrical power balance with India being the dominant regional player. It is time the regional countries should seriously consider Pakistan’s idea and join the trilateral mechanism established by China, Pakistan and Bangladesh to foster mutual collaboration in areas of common interest. It is useless to wait indefinitely for a change in India’s narrow-minded posture to revive the SAARC.
