The case for reviving SAARC

Context: With US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the failure of South Asian nations to act in accord will plunge the region into perilous theatre of discord. A revival of SAARC brings up the hope of reintegration.

Complexities of the South Asian Region: South Asia is the world’s most complex and closely watched region.

• beset with unsettled territorial disputes, as well as trans-border criminal and subversive activities; it remains a theatre for ethnic, cultural, and religious tensions and rivalries. 
• A current rise in ultra-nationalism is taking place against the backdrop of a bloody history of repeated inter-state wars and myriad intra-state conflicts. 
• Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan are at loggerheads. Cross-border terrorism has again made the region, as former US President Bill Clinton once deemed it, “the world’s most dangerous place.”
  • The recent US military withdrawal from Afghanistan has fuelled fears of an intensification of these trends.

Need for revival of SAARC: As the largest regional cooperation organisation, SAARC’s importance in stabilising and effectively transforming the region is becoming increasingly self-evident.

• Regionalism as a confidence-building measure: To produce a common resolve to navigate common challenges.
  • In 1985, at the height of the Cold War, leaders of South Asian nations — namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka — created a SAARC
  • Objective  - contributing “to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another’s problems.
  • However, despite the framework SAARC provides for cooperation amongst South Asian nations, it has remained sidelined and dormant since its 18th summit of 2014 in Kathmandu.
• Counter-terrorism: The third SAARC summit in 1987 adopted a Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism and updated it in 2004 with the signing of an additional protocol. 
  • These instruments demonstrate the collective commitment to rid the region of terror and promote regional peace, stability, and prosperity.
  • In fighting the pandemic: In March last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seized the Covid-19 crisis and utilised SAARC’s seal to convene a video conference of SAARC leaders.
• Significant contributions:
  • In 36 years of existence, SAARC has developed a dense network of institutions, linkages, and mechanisms.
  • SAARC has made significant contributions to the development of civil society and track-two initiatives. 
  • Though SAARC’s charter prohibits bilateral issues at formal forums, SAARC summits provide a unique, informal window — the re-treat — for leaders to meet without aides and chart future courses of action.
  • SAARC members are among the top troop-contributing countries to UN peace-keeping missions; a joint peacekeeping force from the SAARC region under the UN aegis could be explored to fill the power vacuum in Afghanistan.

Conclusion: 

• If the geopolitical dynamics following World War II could allow die-hard enemies France and Germany to interface effectively enough to create the European Union, there is no reason why India and Pakistan cannot come together. 
• SAARC has the capacity to bring nations together. As Nelson Mandela said, “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”