A PROJECT ONNEED AND RELEVANCE OF SAARC

IN THE SUBJECTECONOMICS SUBMITTED BY

NAME: KHUSHBOO LANGALIAROLL NO.: 26 DIVISION: A

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

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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.

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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.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is indeed a great pleasure and proud privilege to present this projectwork.

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

1.1INTRODUCTION6

1.2SAARC CHARTER8

1.3OBJECTIVES OF SAARC9

1.4PRINCIPLES10

1.5SECRATARIAT11

CHAPTER II NEED AND RELEVANCE

2.1NEED AND IMPORTANCE11

2.2RELEVANCE OF SAARC16

2.3EXPECTATIONS OF SAARC17

2.4POLITICAL RELEVANCE OF SAARC21

CHAPTER III ACHIEVEMENTS

3.1CO-OPERATION ON SOCIAL ISSUES26

3.2CO-OPERATION ON ECONOMIC ISSUES29

3.3CO-OPERATION IN INTERNATIONAL FORUMS30

CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION

4.1CONCLUSION31

APPENDIX

5.1BIBLIOGRAPHY32

SAARC

INTRODUCTIONThe 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 SAARCThough 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 SAARCSouth 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 Promotion of environment and health Study of population activities Establishment of Meteorological centres 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 SAARCIt 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.

PakistanPakistan 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.IndiaIndia, 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, MaldivesMost 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 SAARCFlowing 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 StructureThe 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 ISSUESSAARC 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 policies9) 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 ISSUESSAARC 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.23It 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 FORUMSThe 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.

CONCLUSIONThe 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.BIBLIOGRAPHY1) Secondary data resources