South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), organization of South Asian countries, founded in 1985, that is 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 2007. Headquarters are in Kathmandu, Nepal. Meetings of SAARC heads of state or government were intended to be held annually, but none have occurred since 2014, primarily because of tensions between India and Pakistan. As a result, the organization is widely considered to be defunct; however, Nepal has continued to organize informal meetings of SAARC foreign ministers.

Stated areas of cooperation include agriculture and rural development; education, security, and culture; environment, natural disasters, and biotechnology; economics, trade, and finance; energy, transport, science, and technology; human resource development and tourism; social affairs; information and poverty alleviation; and public services. The charter stipulates that decisions are to be unanimous and that “bilateral and contentious issues” are to be avoided.

History

The idea of SAARC was initially developed by the smaller states of South Asia, while India and Pakistan joined reluctantly. The formation of the organization was formally proposed by Pres. Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh on May 2, 1980. After Bangladesh’s request to join ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) was denied, Rahman began to consider the idea of a South Asian regional cooperation organization. He developed the concept in discussions with King Birendra of Nepal and Pres. J.R. Jayawardene of Sri Lanka in 1977–79. The leadership of Bhutan and the Maldives soon endorsed the proposal.

India and Pakistan both responded with skepticism. India was concerned that SAARC might serve as a platform for the smaller South Asian states to band together against India, while Pakistan feared that SAARC might allow India to lead the smaller states in an organized alliance against Pakistan.

To address these concerns, Bangladesh initiated a series of meetings between South Asian ministers at the United Nations in New York City in 1979–80. After these meetings, Bangladesh proposed that security issues would not be a focus of SAARC cooperation and that only nonpolitical and noncontroversial issues would be discussed.

As a result, the Declaration on South Asian Regional Cooperation (SARC) was adopted in New Delhi in August 1983 along with the Integrated Program of Action (IPA), which agreed on five areas of cooperation: agriculture, rural development, telecommunications, meteorology, and health and population activities. SAARC was formally established on December 8, 1985, at the first SAARC summit, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 17, 1987. Afghanistan applied for SAARC membership in 2005 and joined in 2007.

Initiatives and issues

The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), established by SAARC in 2004 and operational since 2006, has achieved little progress, especially when compared with the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). Within ASEAN, trade conducted between member countries grew significantly from 1992 to 2017. Indeed, intraregional imports rose from 17 percent to 24 percent of global imports, and intraregional exports increased from 21 percent to 27 percent. In South Asia, however, despite SAFTA, intraregional imports have hovered at approximately 3 percent of global totals and exports at 6–7 percent.

In November 2016 the SAARC Disaster Management Centre (Interim Unit) was established at the Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, to provide policy advice and technical support on disaster risk management to member countries. Additionally, the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme, launched in 1992, allows certain dignitaries to travel within the region without visas, although this benefit does not extend to the general public. SAARC has also introduced awards aimed at recognizing youth and artists in an effort to promote cultural exchange.

Despite these initiatives, SAARC has been viewed as largely ineffective in fostering regional cooperation, mainly because of political tensions between member states. The primary conflict is between India and Pakistan: India has frequently accused Pakistan of supporting terrorist groups responsible for attacks on Indian soil. A 2016 terrorist attack near Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, India, proved to be a decisive blow to SAARC cooperation. India blamed Pakistan for the attack and hence boycotted the SAARC summit scheduled to be hosted in Islamabad, Pakistan, that year. No summit has been held since. The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 has further strained SAARC’s dynamics: Pakistan has supported Taliban participation in SAARC forums, while other member states have objected. As of 2024 no SAARC member state has formally recognized the Taliban government.

Observers

SAARC has admitted nine observers, including eight states and one international organization: Australia, China, the European Union, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Mauritius, Myanmar, and the United States. Other countries, such as Russia and Turkey, have expressed interest in becoming SAARC observer states, but there is currently a moratorium on the admission of new observers.