4.
SAARC
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an organization of South
Asian nations, founded in December 1985 and dedicated to economic, technological, social, and
cultural development emphasizing collective self-reliance. Its seven founding members are
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan joined the
organization in 2005. Meetings of heads of state are usually scheduled annually; meetings of foreign
secretaries, twice annually. It is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The 11 stated areas of cooperation are agriculture; education, culture, and sports; health, population,
and child welfare; the environment and meteorology; rural development (including the SAARC Youth
The concept of SAARC was first adopted by Bangladesh during 1977, under the administration of
President Ziaur Rahman. In the late 1970s, SAARC nations agreed upon the creation of a trade bloc
consisting of South Asian countries. The idea of regional cooperation in South Asia was again mooted
in May 1980. The foreign secretaries of the seven countries met for the first time in Colombo in April
1981. The Committee of the Whole, which met in Colombo in August 1985, identified five broad
areas for regional cooperation. New areas of cooperation were added in the following years.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives 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 collective 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.
Afghanistan was added to the regional grouping on 13 November 2005, 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.
SAARC has intentionally laid more stress on "core issues" mentioned above rather than more
decisive political issues like the Kashmir dispute and the Sri Lankan civil war. However, political
dialogue is often conducted on the margins of SAARC meetings. SAARC has also refrained itself
from interfering in the internal matters of its member states. During the 12th and 13th SAARC
summits, extreme emphasis was laid upon greater cooperation between the SAARC members to fight
terrorism.
Over the years, the SAARC members have expressed their unwillingness on signing a free trade
agreement. Though India has several trade pacts with Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, similar
trade agreements with Pakistan and Bangladesh have been stalled due to political and economic
concerns on both sides. India has been constructing a barrier across its borders with Bangladesh and
Pakistan. In 1993, SAARC countries signed an agreement to gradually lower tariffs within the region,
in Dhaka. Eleven years later, at the 12th SAARC Summit at Islamabad, SAARC countries devised the
South Asia Free Trade Agreement which created a framework for the establishment of a free trade
area covering 1.6 billion people. This agreement went into force on January 1, 2008. Under this
agreement, SAARC members will bring their duties down to 20 per cent by 2009.
The sixteenth summit was held in Thimpu, Bhutan on 28–29 April 2010. Bhutan hosted the SAARC
summit for the first time. This was marked the silver jubilee celebration of SAARC that was formed
in Bangladesh in December 1985. Climate change was the central issue of the summit with summit's
theme "Towards a Green and Happy South Asia". Outcome of Thimpu Summit regarding climate
change issue:
SAARC leaders signed a SAARC Convention on Cooperation on Environment to tackle the
problem of climate change.
The SAARC nations also pledged to plant 10 million trees over the next 5 years.
India proposed setting up of climate innovation centres in South Asia to develop sustainable
energy technologies.
India offered services of India's mission on sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem to the
SAARC member states saying that the initiative could serve as a nucleus for regional
cooperation in this vital area.
India announced "India endowment for climate change" in South Asia to help member states
meet their urgent adaption and capacity building needs posed by the climate change.
The seven-page ‘Thimphu Silver Jubilee Declaration-Towards a Green and Happy South
Asia’ emphasised the importance of reducing dependence on high-carbon technologies for
economic growth and hoped promotion of climate resilience will promote both development
and poverty eradication in a sustainable manner.
Indias Role
Deep-seated hostility between India and Pakistan have paralysed key economic pacts including the
setting up of a free trade area.
Indian officials say Bangladesh and Nepal are reluctant to deepen their trade engagement with India,
fearful of Indian goods flooding their markets and overwhelming their domestic industries.
New Delhi accuses militant groups based in Pakistan and Bangladesh of involvement in bomb attacks
across India and has been going slow on liberalising travel rules.
Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan too are simmering with Kabul accusing Islamabad of
supporting the Taliban, which is leading an insurgency against the Afghan government.
Ironically, some of the harshest critics of the grouping over the years have been SAARC leaders
themselves.
Former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga has complained that India-Pakistan issues
overshadow summits at the expense of other issues.
India being an important member of the group should initiate steps to ensure that the nations go
beyond the rhetoric and make the Summit meaningful in the future. Creation of Export Promotion
Zones and Special Economic Zones in each SAARC member country as pointed out by industry
bodies will enhance investments between them and will thus encourage intra-SAARC investments.
The Indian government has to understand that the export-import community needs easier movement
of goods, services, and people within the member nations if we are to compete with other big
economies like China. It is a really sorry state of affairs that despite huge scope for intra-SAARC
trade, till date trade is even less than 5 percent of the countries' total trade volume. And when we
compare it with intra-European Union commerce that comprise about 55 percent, I think we have a
long way to go. And India has to show them the way.
Being the dominant member of the bloc, India can't just remain a member of SAARC; rather it should
look for avenues to ensure that it creates greater opportunities for its export-import community to
carry out trade.
SAFTA
