india & saarc

8/11/2019 India & Saarc

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INDIA AND SAARC

MINUTE BRIEFING

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) wasestablished at the First SAARC Summit in Dhaka on December 7 !"#$!%& 'ts members are angladesh" hutan" 'ndia" aldi*es" +epal",akistan and Sri -anka&

The ob.ecti*es of the Association as defined in the Charter are/To promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and toimpro*e their 0ualit1 of life2

To accelerate economic growth" social progress and culturalde*elopment in the region and to pro*ide all indi*iduals theopportunit1 to li*e in dignit1 and to reali3e their full potential2

To promote and strengthen collecti*e self reliance among thecountries of South Asia2

To contribute to mutual trust" understanding and appreciation of one another4s problems2

To promote acti*e collaboration and mutual assistance in theeconomic" social" cultural" technical and scientific fields2

To strengthen cooperation with other de*eloping countries2To strengthen cooperation among themsel*es in internationalforums on matters of common interest2 and

To cooperate with international and regional organisations withsimilar aims and purposes

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Decisions at all le*els in SAARC are taken on the basis of unanimit1& Article 5 (6) of the SAARC Charter e cludes bilateral and contentiousissues from the ambit of SAARC&

INTRODUCTION

After 'ndia adopted the polic1 of +SR (+ational Self Reliance) in

order to remo*e dependence on foreign aid" 'ndia took the ne t stepof forming SAARC along with the 8 neighbouring countries&This step has helped 'ndia de*elop good and cordial relationship withits neighbouring countries in all aspects i&e& sociall1 politicall1 andeconomicall1& After SAARC being formed b1 'ndia along with 8 of itsneighbouring countries" 'ndia has been able to de*elop traderelations with all the SAARC members&'ndia had the chairmanship of SAARC during the 1ear #$$8 $7&'ndiahosted the #7th session of the SAARC council of ministers at +ewDelhi in #$$8&Recentl1 the #9 th SAARC summit was held in +ew Delhi

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INDIAS CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS SAARC

'ndia has cooperated acti*el1 in SAARC acti*ities and *igorousl1promoted trade and other forms of economic" social and technical

cooperation within SAARC&

'ndia also acti*el1 supports people to people initiati*es aimed atfostering greater mutual understanding and goodwill in the region&

'ndia is the onl1 SAARC member that shares land borders with four members and sea borders with two& +o other SAARC countr1 shares

a common border with each other&

'n terms of trade" commerce" in*estments etc& 'ndia is a source of potential in*estments and technolog1" and a ma.or market for products from all other SAARC members &

:ne of the foremost challenges facing South Asia is the issue of po*ert1 eradication& At the Twelfth Summit held in 'slamabad in;anuar1 6


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EFFECTS ON INDO-PAK RELATIONS

SAARC has failed to resol*e disputes between 'ndia and ,akistan(especiall1 the @ashmir 'ssue)& The progress of SAARC was limited

for some 1ears due to the absence of cordial relationship between'ndia and ,akistan&

SAARC4S inabilit1 to pla1 a crucial role in integrating South Asia isoften credited to the political and militar1 ri*alr1 between 'ndia and,akistan&

owe*er during ,rime inister Atal ihari Ba.pa1ee s *isit to'slamabad (for the #6 th SAARC summit) ,akistan persuaded 'ndia to

resume talks about maintenance of peace and the stalled compositedialogue" while 'ndia recei*ed assurances that ,akistan would notallow its territor1 to be a hub for terrorist acti*ities& The compositedialogue had then started&

At present 'ndia s e port to ,akistan are limited& For e ample in the1ear 6886 million&

,akistan has to pa1 hea*1 price for importing goods from other countries e cept 'ndia& 'ndia s e ports suffer due to non a*ailabilit1 of neighbouring market&

Along with 'ndia and ,akistan" other countries of SAARC are likel1 toget man1 benefits because of impro*ed '+D: E ,A@ relations& 'n the

recent 'ndo ,ak dialogue process" there were no winners and losers&The real winners were the people of South Asia&

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SAARC: A FAILURE FOR INDIA (VICE-VERSA)??

SAARC had failed to resol*e conflicts between 'ndia and ,akistan&There is discontent still between both the countries&

SAARC has 1et to become an effecti*e regional organi3ation" largel1because of mutual distrust between 'ndia and its neighbours&

Also 'ndia4s lukewarm support for SAARC stems from the concernthat its neighbours might coalesce against it to the detriment of 'ndianinterests&

The reluctance of 'ndia and other South Asian countries to turnSAARC into a forum for resol*ing ma.or regional disputes hampersSAARC S abilit1 to deal with man1 of South Asia4s economic andpolitical problems

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CO-OPERATION TROUBLES BETWEEN INDIA AND SAARCMEMBERSSAARC is structured in a wa1 that often makes regional cooperationdifficult& Thomas Thornton argues that in regional organi3ations it isdifficult for countries to establish balanced relations when one has asignificant ad*antage in power o*er the other states&G 'n the case of SAARC" 'ndia is the most powerful countr1 in terms of its economicmight" militar1 power and international influence& Thus" 'ndia s

potential as a regional hegemon1 gi*es SAARC a uni0ue d1namiccompared to an organi3ation such as AS?A+& ,akistan was initiall1reluctant to .oin SAARC due to fears of SAARC succumbing to 'ndianhegemon1& 'ndeed" if 'ndia does take a prominent role in SAARC" itcould further fears that 'ndia will use SAARC for hegemonicpurposes& Hhile the smaller states in South Asia recogni3e that the1will need 'ndia s help to facilitate faster economic growth" the1 arereluctant to work with 'ndia" fearing that such cooperation will admit'ndian dominance in SAARC&

Aside from a few o*ertures to its neighbours" 'ndia has done little toalla1 the fears of other South Asian states& The core of these fears islikel1 deri*ed from the displa1s of 'ndia s power b1 +ew Delhi in thepast& Reali3ing its considerable ad*antage in militar1 and economicpower" 'ndia has consistentl1 acted in an arrogant anduncompromisingG manner with its neighbours& angladesh is afraid of 'ndia e ploiting its geographical position to redirect water flows *ital toangladeshi agricultural production& +epal and hutan are stillworried about 'ndia s control o*er their world trade and transit links astheir geographical position will alwa1s make them dependent on'ndia& These disputes between 'ndia and its neighbuors ha*e directl1affected SAARC&

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+amel1" disputes between South Asian states ha*e underminedSAARC efforts to promote regional trade& These disagreements makeconsensus building and cooperation among SAARC statescomplicated& Attempting to promote regional cooperation while doing

little to resol*e regional conflicts makes SAARC S mission looksnearl1 impossible& oreo*er" SAARC has no institutionalmechanisms or punishments capable of pre*enting or full1 resol*inga dispute& Two e amples illustrate how conflicts in South Asia ha*epro*en detrimental to SAARC&

The first in*ol*es 'ndian inter*ention in Sri -anka from #$!8 #$$


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of goods smuggled from 'ndia to ,akistan *ia a third part1 generall1totals 6%< %


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oreo*er" some states still ha*e high tariff and non tariff barriers totrade" indicating that the spirit of free trade does not seem ali*e inSAARC& owe*er" SAARC is tr1ing to remed1 this problem&SAARC hopes that the establishment of a South Asian Free Trade

Area (SAFTA) b1 ;anuar1 #" 6


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CONCLUSION'ndia needs to pla1 a ma.or role in SAARC'ndia being an important member of the group should initiate steps toensure that the nations go be1ond the rhetoric and make the Summit

meaningful in the future& Creation of ? port ,romotion Kones andSpecial ?conomic Kones in each SAARC member countr1 as pointedout b1 industr1 bodies will enhance in*estments between them andwill thus encourage intra SAARC in*estmentsThe 'ndian go*ernment has to understand that the e port importcommunit1 needs easier mo*ement of goods" ser*ices" and peoplewithin the member nations&'ndia should also maintain peace and take proper and appropriate

steps to resol*e disputes and sol*e issues amongst the SAARCmembers especiall1 with ,akistan&

According to Former ,rime inister Atal ihari Ba.pa1ee" Countriesin the SAARC region ha*e to make a bold transition from mistrust totrust" from discord to concord and from tension to peaceG&

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india & saarc

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