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Vol. 3(3), May 2014
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Khan JA
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Global Advanced Research Journal
of History, Political Science and International Relations (GARJHPSIR)
ISSN: 2315-506X
May 2014 Vol.
3(3), pp 030-034
Copyright © 2014 Global Advanced
Research Journals
Review
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SAARC: (Still) in Search of Regional Integration?
Jahangir Ahmad Khan
Research Scholar, School of International Studies,
Central University of Gujarat, Sector -30
Gandhinagar, Gujarat India-382030.
E-mail:
Jahangir0786khan@gmail.com; Contact No.
07818865842
Accepted 15 May, 2014
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Abstract |
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Regional integration is a process by which states
enter into agreements to enhance cooperation through
institutions and rules. The objectives of such
agreements could be many. The South Asian
Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC), which
was established in 1985 after four years of
sustained and difficult negotiations, is such an
attempt at the integration of the subcontinent.
Although there has been cooperation on issues that
are seen to be peripheral in nature, these are
inadequate to show that SAARC has bolstered regional
unity and cooperation in the way it was envisaged to
have. In this regard, it is compared with processes
such the ASEAN or the European Union (EU). Despite
sustaining its official existence, it has had a
chequered trajectory primarily because of the
enduring conflict between India and Pakistan, the
asymmetrical distribution of capabilities between
the member states, the capital-centric approach to
regional integration, and the inability of national
regimes to view cross-border commonalities as nodes
of cooperation between countries rather than
sensitive zones that need to be securitised and
fortified. SAARC countries are yet to evolve a
practical framework and realistic terms of reference
for cooperation on substantive matters on the basis
of complementarity and mutual benefit. By revisiting
the reasons for the lack of substantial progress of
SAARC, this paper will review its recent trajectory
and anticipate its future prospects. It will ask:
what factors can contribute to, and effectively
stabilise, regional cooperation? Can a shift from
state security to human and cooperative security
occur? Can economics trump politics in regional
integration? Answers to these questions will help us
appreciate the constraints on prospects of
cooperation in South Asia.
Keywords:
SAARC, Regional
integration
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