SAARC at Twenty-Five: An Incredible Idea Still in Its Infancy
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Smruti S. Pattanaik
Dr Smruti S Pattanaik is a Research Fellow (SS) at the MP-IDSA. Her area of specialisation is South Asia. Her current research project is titled as “India’s Response to China’s… Continue reading SAARC at Twenty-Five: An Incredible Idea Still in Its Infancy read more
Volume:34
Issue:5
Commentaries
The SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit is often described as being a mere photo opportunity for south Asian leaders who should actually be using the comatose organisation to reinvent regional cooperation in a globalised world. Such pessimism is inevitable if one takes stock of the progress that SAARC has made over the period of time. There exists a SAARC convention to deal with all issues that have a certain salience in the regional context. Yet, even 25 years after its inception the organisation is found wanting both in terms of forming a regional identity and of forging any sense of a regional belongingness.
