Given the structural fragility of SAARC and its inability to promote South Asian regional integration, an attempt to reboot the organisation would be futile.
Ashok Kumar Behuria replies: There is an overlap between the two. However, they are different. Indian subcontinent is a subset of South Asia, as much as both are subsets of the Asian continent.
As a geographical expression, Indian subcontinent encompassed the British colonial administrative unit called India, which comprised of the present day states of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Till 1936, Burma (now Myanmar) was also part of British India, but was not considered part of the subcontinent.
Ashok Kumar Behuria replies: The prime challenge for SAARC and South Asia is how to engender effective economic and security cooperation to boost regional prosperity and development.
The reactions of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India indicate a new regional consensus that state sponsored terrorism cannot be dealt with only at the bilateral level.
SAARC satellite was an opportunity for Pakistan to display its enthusiasm for space cooperation with India, but its strategic calculations appear to have ‘jammed’ its vision.
While India may wait for full cooperation of other member countries to make SAARC a success, it must take the initiative for forging more agreements in matters concerning economic and social cooperation.
In spite of the existence since October 2006 of a SAARC Disaster Management Centre, the Nepal earthquake brought to the fore the difficulties faced by this organization and its failure to rise to the occasion.
The time has perhaps come to restructure, even partition, SAARC to make it more effective. This is something that might also be required to be done in the likely event that Pakistan fosters the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Signing of the SAARC agreement is merely the first step in the process of regional energy cooperation. To make this initiative work, governments in the region need to synchronise their efforts on a range of technical, institutional and political issues.
Cancellation of the SAARC Summit: Has India Succeeded in Isolating Pakistan Regionally?
The reactions of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India indicate a new regional consensus that state sponsored terrorism cannot be dealt with only at the bilateral level.