(Review Article*) South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation: The Role of India in South Asia

Abstract

South Asia is a diverse region of the Asian continent which represents very asymmetrical characteristics with regard to size, population and economy. Regional cooperative initiatives like SAARC stands unavoidable and significant in the region due to the lingering legacies of the regions colonial past, leaky troubled borders, ethnic and religious divergences and economic incongruence. SAARC was initiated with hopes which pave the way for a revitalizing dialogue on contentious security issues. But till date, progress has been glacial because the Indo-Pakistan security enigma has resisted solution. On the other hand, India’s relations with the other countries of South Asia are less fraught, although not without friction. India, the region’s dominant state shall repair relations with neighbourhood countries and become a net provider of public goods and work diligently. In South Asia, operational cooperation has to be supplemented with cautious enrichment of policy designed to enhance security-driven concerns. Thus, a double-edged process by which non-security cooperation goes hand in hand with a political dialogue on security matters is the only way to resuscitate the conked regional integration process.