Journal Abstract

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established to promote regional integration and cohesion and to ensure economic growth and development for its member countries. Despite its good intentions, the endeavor failed to achieve the results it once envisioned. Bilateral contentions, defunct free trade agreements, lack of willpower, and low levels of trust are some of the core issues plaguing the association. However, Bangladesh has shown great interest in reinvigorating the regional organization and pursuing the entity’s goals and ambitions with renewed zeal. The research uses a thorough approach to gather information, combining both new data and existing data, to see if South Asian regionalism through SAARC can be revived despite its current inactivity and political slowdowns. The research details both the successes and shortcomings of SAARC as a regional organization. The core findings from expert interviews and the general survey suggest significant support for SAARC’s rejuvenation in due course, while some skepticism about its overall functionality also prevails. The overall recommendations from the primary data were to pursue SAARC’s revival while also pursuing parallel bilateral and multilateral economic endeavors. The study formulates a set of policy recommendations using its findings to promote political resolutions, revive agreements, promote regional kinship, and streamline ambitions for growth and development amongst South Asian countries.

The Article:

Introduction

The idea of South Asian regionalism was envisioned to support the regional integration and cohesion of countries, with the intent to enhance economic growth and development. President Ziaur Rahman, the initiator of South Asian regionalism, aimed to create a South Asian regional identity that replicates the success and principles of successful regional endeavors, such as the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This resulted in the creation of SAARC, a regional entity specific to cohesion in South Asia. Such a regional initiative in the context of the global South was pursued due to the failure of multilateral entities such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), in addressing concerns of the developing countries. According to Mistry (2003:136), the failure of multilateral organizations in prioritizing the economic needs and concerns of the South has given impetus to their regionalist ambitions. Harold James (1996) seconds this notion, explaining how countries veer towards regionalism when globalization efforts fail.

      However, as promising as the vision was, SAARC has not been successful in meeting most of its goals and objectives. Bilateral contentions, meager desires for regional cooperation, lack of bilateral trust, and defunct trade arrangement mechanisms such as the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) have bogged down any possibility for SAARC to function based on its potential. 

      Despite the presence of political vetoes and institutional ineffectiveness, SAARC persists as an organization. Such persistence is indicative of the political desire to maintain the organization and, in due course, revive it. In fact, the Daily Star (2024), has observed a renewed interest in SAARC's revival. The Bangladesh leadership has always considered SAARC indispensable for regional cooperation (Bashar, 2017).

      The study is about SAARC’s stagnancy despite its institutional capacity. While referring to reverberated constraints faced by the organization, this body of work focuses on providing objectivity-oriented recommendations that are relevant to present regional and political scenarios while incorporating relevant knowledge in the research process. The objective is to find an answer to the following question:

Is the revitalization of SAARC probable despite the institutional setbacks and political stymies?

      This is formulated as a policy-oriented study that aims to investigate the predominant stymies faced by SAARC and provide real-world recommendations to enable the institution to rise beyond institutional and political setbacks. More specifically, it seeks to explore and achieve the following objectives:

1. To explain the formation and genesis of SAARC as a regional entity.
2. To discuss both the successes and weaknesses of SAARC.
3. To investigate public perception and expert opinions to ascertain the feasibility of rejuvenating SAARC, particularly in the near future.
4. Perform a pedagogical exploration of whether or not SAARC can be revitalized despite institutional stymies and political lethargy.
5. Provide a sartorial set of policy recommendations to ascertain and accelerate the revitalization of SAARC as a regional entity.

Literature Review

Mozaffar et al. (2017) present very crisp research explaining the genesis of SAARC, its structural importance and significance. The author describes achievements such as SAARC’s creation, the creation of a Poverty Alleviation Commission, SAFTA, the SAARC University, and the SAARC Development Fund. However, the authors also point out SAARC’s glaring inefficiencies and shortcomings, such as irregular summits, bilateral contentions dominating regional integration, lack of trust, and failure of SAFTA, among others. The author suggests that the countries of South Asia join forces, irrespective of personal differences and bilateral skirmishes, and strive to revive SAARC for the collective good of the region.

      Shishir and Sakib (2023) examine the role of India as the dominant member of South Asia, which not only determines the region’s external relations policy but also acts as the regional ‘big brother’. While discussing the latitude countries have in determining their roles in regional organizations, it was discovered that countries, especially smaller countries, are assigned more responsibility in organizations such as BIMSTEC, as opposed to in SAARC.  Moreover, due to the India-Pakistan conflict, which is currently the dominant bane to South Asian regionalism, as one of the reasons why SAARC is failing. The authors point out that India prefers collaborating on BIMSTEC rather than on SAARC, solely due to the absence of Pakistan on the platform.

      A similar work by Happymon Jacob (2024) shares pessimistic pragmatism about South Asian regionalism. The author suggests that SAARC, after a brief period of success, has stagnated, with India persistently acting cautiously due to Pakistan’s presence in the group. His research suggests that many Indians perceive SAARC as being detrimental to their national ambitions. There has also been a decrease in educational and labor migration to India from other South Asian countries, which the research suggests is a result of India’s reluctance to proceed with SAARC. As a result, the countries of South Asia opted for a stronger relationship with China to counter India. The author remains hopeful of the region’s potential and advises the involvement of other coalitions, such as the QUAD, with India’s assistance, to ensure that the security, development and climate change-related concerns of the countries are met.

      Sbragia (2008) presents a comparative analysis of various regionalist movements that have evolved over the years. Her work portrays European ideas of regionalism as outdated and limited to economic cooperation. The new manifestation of regionalism encompasses a wide range of factors, including social, cultural, and political aspects. The author suggests that the European ideas of regionalism have skewed the meaning of regionalism for regions such as South Asia.

      The author believes that because the new ideas of regionalism are more global, South Asian countries should adopt a more thoughtful approach to regionalism that goes beyond just trade and includes their social, cultural, and family connections.

      Sbragia (2008) explains that political scientists describe the formation of regionalism as being based on contiguity and the desire to form a collective regional identity based on said contiguity. This interpretation redefines regionalism from being geographical to ‘geopsychological’ (Pempel, 2005, p. 3). This perspective applies to the idea of SAARC, where a geosychological kinship based on shared regional collective practices, cultures, and traditions is salient. This viewpoint will allow us to understand why SAARC is still relevant to South Asia from a regional lens, despite obvious hurdles.

      While explaining South Asian regionalism from a more rational perspective, Shishir and Sakib (2023) define the realist interpretation of world politics and describe the Indian psychological propensity to act accordingly. This is synonymous with the realist rational actor’s model, denoted by Söderbaum& Shaw (2003). This theoretical lens enlightens the understanding of the political act of imposing vetoes that are detrimental to SAARC’s progress.

Research Methodology

The research follows a mixed-method approach, using both primary and secondary data. For primary data, a preferential sampling method was used where academic experts and younger minds in the field of international relations and political science were interviewed to derive relevant information. The justification lies in their exposure to political theories, ideas, and concepts, as well as their refined knowledge of regionalism and South Asian regionalism in its totality.

      A structured general survey was conducted of current students and graduates from the disciplines of international relations and political science, although not exclusively from these disciplines. This was to reflect the perception of young minds in Bangladesh with a penchant for knowledge of relevant political discourses and ideas about regionalism.

      The structured survey was able to record 150 responses.The respondents were asked about their academic background, as well as about their knowledge of regional organizations pertinent to South Asia, such as SAARC and BIMSTEC.

      For secondary data, both the abductive approach and the desk study method were employed. The abductive method processes information to recontextualize it and derive newer perspectives. The desk study method peruses secondary literature significant to the study in the form of books, newspapers, academic articles, opinion editorials, governmental and nongovernmental reports and statistics, among others. The intent was to academically comprehend the realities of South Asian regionalism in relation to SAARC based on available credible scientific information.

      The predominant limitation faced by the authors was the dated literature related to South Asian regionalism on relevant global databases and repositories. Notable organizations such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank failed to update their data on South Asian trade, development, growth, and investments. The authors were unable to perform a nationwide survey due to budgetary constraints, time limitations, and inaccessibility. The survey was kept limited to educational institutions in Dhaka.

SAARC: Formation and Development

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was the manifestation of the desire to cater to the region’s growth and development ambitions. SAARC was the brainchild of President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh, who envisioned a South Asian regional entity similar to the EU and ASEAN (Javaid, 2013). Multiple inter-regional meetings materialized the idea, with the first one taking place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in April 1981. President Zia had the ambition to create a South Asian Regional entity, whose attributes would be synonymous with those of ASEAN; to spread democratic values, increase intra-regional cooperation and trade, and to remain non-aligned on the global stage (referring to avoiding aligning with either the US or the Soviet Union during the Cold War) (U. Chowdhury, 2024).

      The follow-up meetings between future members were held in Kathmandu in November 1981, in Islamabad in August 1982, in Dhaka in March 1983, and in Delhi in July 1983 (Muzaffar, Jathol, and Yaseen, 2017; 36). To pinpoint the areas of cooperation, the 'Integrated Programme of Action' (IPA) was introduced at an August 1983 meeting between the soon-to-be SAARC members (Kibria, 2023b).

      As of now, five specialized bodies and five regional centers have been established under SAARC. The specialized centers are:

• The SAARC Development Fund (SDF)
• South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO),
• SAARC Arbitration Council (SARCO),
• South Asian University (New Delhi),
• (With SAARC Finance now being defunct)

The regional centers are:

• SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC),
• SAARC Energy Centre (SEC),
• SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC),
• SAARC Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre (STAC), and
• SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC).
• (Specialised Bodies, 2020; Kibria, 2023a).

      The objectives of SAARC, as mentioned in Article 1 of the Charter, are to ensure mutual welfare and collective economic growth, promote self-reliance and intra-regional cooperation, and embolden cooperation with developing countries sharing mutual interests, as well as other regional organizations (SAARC, 1985.). Article 2 of the Charter carefully lays out the principles, which are very simple and precise. These emphasize that the organization is not to be an alternative to bilateral interactions but rather a supplement to such relations, and its interactions should be consistent with and promote other bilateral and multilateral interactions (ibid.).

The Current State of SAARC

SAARC, as an entity, still exists. According to the SAARC Charter, the SAARC summit meetings with the Heads of States of member countries are to meet every two years (SAARC, 1985.). However, in reality, these summits have not taken place since the 18th Summit in 2014, in Kathmandu, Nepal. In place of summits, Nepal, the country with the SAARC Secretariat, is hosting annual meetings on the foreign ministerial level each year (EEAS, 2021).

      At present, South Asian regional integration through SAARC is very poor. The regional trade is 6% of South Asian GDP, standing at USD 39.55 billion in 2022 (Kibria, 2023a). Regional trade, investment and overall engagement are very low due to high trade and investment barriers, low penetration, low mutual trust, and overall disinterest (Yatawara, Kathuria, and Zhu, 2021). The same literature suggests that intraregional trade and investment knowledge by regional traders and investors is very low, leading to very little regional interaction between the region’s countries.

      This reality of South Asian regionalism exposes the overt inefficiencies of SAARC as a regional institution. The objective of this research revolves around whether SAARC, the organization, can be revived to be as functional as possible, despite political paralysis and organizational ineffectiveness. The following discussion of the successes and shortcomings of SAARC elaborates on this section, reflecting what has worked, what is working now, and what has failed to succeed.

Achievements in South Asian Regional Integration

Despite countries having initial qualms about materializing a South Asian regional organization, SAARC was born out of their desire to cooperate on December 8th, 1985, through the signing of the SAARC Charter, also known as the Dhaka Declaration. SAARC has not only allowed for unified identity for the region’s countries but has also resulted in more structured interactions and decent trade between the members, despite evident stymies along the process. The following discusses the notable accolades SAARC has been able to accomplish over the years.

A Unified Voice for South Asia

SAARC has successfully allowed South Asian countries to create a common voice. The organization had provided the countries with a platform to collectively assert their opinions in global politics and to establish a ‘South Asian Identity’ (U. Chowdhury, 2024). During the Second SAARC Summit in Bangalore (16–17 November 1986), the members highlighted their commitment to regional integration by emphasizing people-to-people exchanges and contacts (Areas of Cooperation, 2020).

Agriculture and Food Security

Agriculture is the most dominant sector in South Asia, employing nearly half of the workforce and utilizing 42% of the land. With 66% of the population living in rural areas (as of 2017), regional cooperation on agriculture and rural development has been a priority for SAARC since its inception.

      The SAARC Integrated Programme of Action (SIPA) established two technical committees on agriculture and rural development in 1990. They were later merged into the Technical Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development in 2000. This committee facilitates knowledge sharing, expertise exchange, and regional initiatives on agriculture, fisheries, and livestock (Hosain and Karim, 2023).

      To address food security in South Asia, the SAARC Food Security Reserve, which is a regional initiative to ensure food availability during crises, was established in 1988; however, technical challenges hindered its effectiveness. The SAARC Regional Food Bank was suggested in 2004 and made official in 2007. Additionally, the SAARC Seed Bank was established on 15 June 2016 to facilitate the exchange of seeds among member states (Hosain and Karim, 2023).

Cultural Exchange and People-to-People Connection

The Heads of the SAARC Governments recognized ‘the crucial role of culture in bringing the peoples of South Asia closer.’ The Thirteenth SAARC Summit in Dhaka in November 2005 shared this agenda.

      At the Eighteenth SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in November 2014, the leaders ‘directed to implement the SAARC Agenda for Culture.’ This agenda had the aims to improve intra-regional connectivity with the SAARC member capitals and heritage cities, boost intra-regional tourism, and increase people-to-people exchange, among other things (SAARC Agenda for Culture, n.d.).

Poverty Alleviation

SAARC has prioritized poverty alleviation since its inception. The 1991 Colombo Summit established the Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation (ISACPA), which developed a framework for social mobilization and empowerment.

      SAARC has undertaken several initiatives, including a three-tier and a two-tier mechanism, a Plan of Action on Poverty Alleviation, and the SAARC Decade of Poverty Alleviation (2006-2015). The SAARC Development Goals (SDGs) were created to help set and reach goals for reducing poverty. Ministerial meetings, senior officials' meetings, and intergovernmental expert group meetings facilitate cooperation in this sector (Hosain and Karim, 2023).

Intra-Regional Trade

SAARC has increased and enhanced the growth of intra-regional trade in South Asia, which was only 2.4% in 1986 and 4.6% in 2001 (Rozario & Rahman, 2023). Despite not being as impressive as ASEAN, East Asia or Europe, the number stands at 6% of total South Asian trade, with intra-regional trade at USD 39.55 billion. This number was only $256 million in 1993 and USD 16.32 billion in 2010 (Kibria, 2023a). One of the other breakthroughs was the creation of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), which preceded the South Asian Preferential Trade Area (SAPTA). SAPTA has been successful in facilitating regional trade to an extent, albeit stymied by its inability to lower intra-regional tariff barriers (Kibria, 2023b).

Biotechnology

SAARC has prioritized biotechnology cooperation since 1990 through establishing a Working Group on Biotechnology in 2004 under the SAARC Integrated Program of Action (SIPA). The group developed a regional cooperation program covering medical, agricultural, environmental, marine, and industrial biotechnology, as well as bioinformatics, GMOs, vaccines, genomics, nanobiotechnology, and stem cell research. Following the Fourth Meeting (2011), member states submitted State-of-the-Art Reports on Biotechnology, with Pakistan chairing the group since 2012 (Hosain and Karim, 2023).

Environment, Climate Change & Natural Disasters

SAARC has actively addressed environmental issues, climate change, and disaster management as part of its grand plans of action for environmentalism. A regional study from 1987 to 1991 led to the creation of a Technical Committee on Environment in 1992 and regular SAARC Environment Ministerial Meetings. The SAARC Environment Action Plan (1997), the Dhaka Declaration, and the SAARC Action Plan on Climate Change (2008) set frameworks for cooperation (Hosain and Karim, 2023).

      Regional centers, such as the SAARC Coastal Zone Management Centre (Maldives), the SAARC Forestry Centre (Bhutan), the SAARC Disaster Management Centre (India), and the SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (Bangladesh), address various environmental challenges.

      The SAARC Convention on Environment (2010), the Thimphu Statement on Climate Change (2010), and the SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters (2011) are the most important environmental agreements under SAARC (Hosain and Karim, 2023).

      SAARC has also partnered with international organizations like UNEP, UNISDR, and ADPC and has been an accredited observer at UNFCCC since COP 16 (2010), voicing South Asia’s stance on global climate issues.

Education and Eradicating Illiteracy

During the fourth SAARC Summit in Islamabad between 29 and 31 December 1988, the SAARC members unanimously decided to bring education as an ‘area of cooperation’ (SAARC Areas of Communication, 2020; Hosain & Karim, 2023).

      Building on its commitment to improving regional education, SAARC showed temerity and established the South Asian University (SAU), located in New Delhi, India. Article 7 of the agreement of SAU necessitates each member state to recognize its graduate certificates (Muzaffar et al., 2017: 39; Areas of Cooperation, 2020). The SAU provides postgraduate and doctoral degrees in disciplines such as computer science, biotechnology, mathematics, sociology, international relations, law, and development economics (Hosain & Karim, 2023).

SAARC Development Fund

The SAARC Development Fund (SDF) has been a boon for the development of South Asia. The advent of this fund was to facilitate emergency response to natural disasters and calamities, fund SAARC-based projects, and promote economic and social development, such as education, environment, rural infrastructure development, etc. The functions and windows for investments are explicitly mentioned in articles 2 and 4 of the SAARC Development Fund Charter (Charter of the SAARC Development Fund, 2010). To accelerate South Asian regional integration, Alimul Razib, a freelance writer and political thinker, advocates for the proliferation and regular replenishment of funding for the SDF to support regional developmental projects (A. Razib, personal communication, 2 February 2025).

Energy Cooperation

One of SAARC's most brilliant achievements was the establishment of the SAARC Energy Centre through the Dhaka Declaration in 2005. This regional center under SAARC aims to create an Energy Ring in South Asia and facilitate trade in energy between the SAARC countries (SAARC Energy Centre, n.d.).

      When asked about the future of SAARC's regional cooperation, Professor Delwar Hossain of the Department of International Relations at Dhaka University explained that he sees potential for more cohesive regional cooperation, especially a South Asian regional energy grid (D. Hossain, personal communication, January 29, 2025).

      South Asia has been able to muster impressive intra-regional energy trade with the support of the USAID's energy initiative titled the ‘South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration (SARI/EI)’ (United States Energy Association (UNEA, n.d.).

SAARC Arbitration Council and the South Asian Regional Standards Organization

One of the major achievements of SAARC is the establishment of the SAARC Arbitration Council, with a distinctive focus on resolving South Asia’s intra-regional disputes. The Arbitration Council is a specialized body under SAARC that oversees the commercial, industrial, trade and investment, banking and other similar sector-based disputes lodged by a member country or its people (Muzaffar, Jathol, and Yaseen, 2017; p 39).

      Another SAARC-specialized body is the South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO), which was created to establish and solidify regional trade standards among and between SAARC members. SARSO envisioned establishing effective structures for the harmonization of trade standards (Muzaffar et al., 2017: 39, 40).

Information and Communication Technology

SAARC has prioritized Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and networks since the Ninth SAARC Summit in 1997. To enhance collaboration, SAARC Communication Ministers meet regularly. The efforts resulted in the materialization of agreements such as the Plan of Action on Telecommunications (1998) and the Revised Plan of Action (2004) (Hosain and Karim, 2023).

      The Working Group on Telecommunications and ICT, formed in 2004, has held multiple meetings to discuss regional cooperation. In its third meeting in 2009, it stressed the need to improve telecom infrastructure, boost inter-country link capacity, and use land-based systems like optical fiber. Discussions also covered radio signal interference, accounting rates, cross-border telecom routes, and cybersecurity (Hosain and Karim, 2023).

COVID Emergency Fund

One of SAARC’s most recent and significant precedents of successful regionalism was through the materialization of the SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund and its subsequent disbursement. The 8-member organization was able to collectivize action and ensure participation from member countries in contributing to the fund.

      According to Rahim et al. (2023), SAARC was able to effectively follow and implement health guidelines recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the height of the pandemic. In fact, other than financing, the countries collectively pitched in through their multitude of resources, such as facilitating a video conference between high-level health professionals, online crisis response group training sessions, and exchanging crucial health data between health professionals through the implementation of the Information Exchange Platform (IPE) (Rahim et al., 2023: 921).

      Such precedents indeed signified critical successes by SAARC, with the focus being on the collective welfare of the SAARC countries. Such success was meant to be followed up with significantly more comprehensive regional initiatives, such as the ‘One SAARC, One Visa’ initiative, which aims to dissolve borders and barriers within South Asia to facilitate easier travel and cooperation among member countries. But such initiatives were soon to reach an impasse, which will be the focus of the next discussion.

The Shortcomings of SAARC

Like other regional organizations that emerged from the developing world, SAARC faced numerous complications and competition among its members, who were expected to promote a unified presence on the global stage. Many issues and setbacks dimmed the potential of SAARC as an entity. Mohammad Aynul Islam, a professor at Dhaka University, says that ASEAN, the Southeast Asian group, works better overall than SAARC, showing that SAARC is clearly not as strong as similar organizations because its members do not work together effectively to keep it running. This statement is reflective of the relative insufficiencies and inefficiencies of SAARC as a conduit for regional cooperation. The following discussion, although not exhaustive, highlights the primary issues contributing to the institutional failure of SAARC as a regional entity.

Failure in Addressing Bilateral Contentions: The India-Pakistan Question

The inability to address bilateral contentions between member states within regional organizations often results in unsatisfactory outcomes. Jacob (2024) notes that all forms of Indian entertainment via mass media, Bollywood movies and FM radio have been banned in Pakistan since 2019, whose vacuum was carefully filled up by Turkish television media, a move interpreted as being a cultural boycott. The failure to address bilateral contentions has led to a decrease in educational migration within South Asia, especially to India, with the number of South Asian students falling from 30% in the 2011-2012 academic period to a measly 9% in 2018-2019 (Jacob, 2024). India’s reluctance toward regionalism has resulted in a reduction in labor migration to the country, especially from Nepal and Bangladesh.

      The stagnation in SAARC's growth is largely due to India's reluctance to collaborate on platforms where Pakistan participates. India's concerns are rather multifaceted but include only one actor: Pakistan. Since the division of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947, the two countries have engaged in several acts of bilateral aggression over the territory of Kashmir (Rahim et al., 2023: 920; Giri, 2019; Usman, 2023).

      Additionally, the presence of terrorist elements on Pakistani soil has been a cause of headache for India. The situation has reached such an impasse that the Indian Minister of External Affairs has declared that the issue of terrorism on Pakistan’s soil was the main contributing factor stymying SAARC’s progress (Money Control, 2024). Events like the 2008 terrorist attack, the 2019 Pulwama attacks on Indian soldiers, and the 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which resulted in 26 casualties (Ahmed, 2025), have deeply hurt New Delhi's relationship with Islamabad.

The Inability to Hold Regular Summits

SAARC has been unsuccessful in spurring consensus among its members and generating regular meetings. The very last meeting of the heads of state of SAARC members was held in Kathmandu back in 2014 (EEAS, 2021). Due to the political unwillingness of both Pakistan and India, especially surrounding the Kashmir issue and terrorism, the countries have been unsuccessful in maintaining the tradition of holding regular SAARC summits (Kibria, 2023b). The tradition of holding SAARC Summits every two years has been hampered due to the diplomatic, political and security rows between India and Pakistan (SAARC, 2020). To compensate, Nepal, where the 18th SAARC Summit was held in 2014 and the country with the SAARC’s secretariat, has been holding informal meetings of foreign ministers of the member countries every year as an alternative and compensation (EEAS, 2021). However, these meetings do not measure up to the summit of the heads of state.

India’s Hegemonic Tendencies Going Against South Asian Equality

Kibria (2023a) describes SAARC as an ‘India-centric’ organization. This is no misnomer, considering that India accounts for 80% of South Asia's geography and shares either a land or maritime border with every single South Asian country except for Afghanistan. Shishir and Sakib (2023) explain that India tends to attempt to decide the regional agenda for South Asia while also attempting to decide, on behalf of other regional countries, whether SAARC should remain functional. Mohammad Aynul Islam explains how India prefers to assume the role of the ‘big brother’ in South Asia, which in turn is creating an imbalance within the region (M. A. Islam, personal communication, 16 February 2025).

      India's hegemonic view of itself has rendered its contiguous countries to feel inferior in its presence, not just geographically, but rather politically. According to Rahim et al. (2023), smaller South Asian countries tend to remain apprehensive of India, fearing their sovereignty being affected by New Delhi. Such instances indicate collective South Asian apprehension about India’s hegemonic ambitions.

The Failure of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement

The South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) was a manifestation of the collective South Asian desire to promote regional trade and remove barriers. When SAFTA first came into effect in 2006, it was assumed to reduce trade barriers in South Asia while maintaining a balance between the developing and least developed countries (Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area [SAFTA], 2004).

      It was thought that the FTA would be an improvement upon the stagnated South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA), which was the seminal South Asian attempt to reduce trade barriers, i.e., tariffs. Also, mutual growth, trade, investment and development would flourish (Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), 2004). However, SAFTA suffered from the same underlying shoddy foundation that SAPTA had. South Asian regional trade under SAFTA was only 6% in 2022 (Kibria, 2023a), less than 1% of the region’s GDP.

      SAARC countries' preference for bilateral trade over multilateral engagements could explain SAFTA's failure (Kibria, 2023a). Another key impediment to South Asian regional trade is the sensitive list of goods (SL). This list, under SAFTA, contains the names of goods on which no SAFTA member is to provide tariff concessions (Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area, 2006). The SAFTA framework lacks explicit mention of processes to reduce the number of products on the sensitive list or of a seamless phasing out (Kathuria & Arenas, 2018: 99).

High Barriers to Trade and Deceleration of Regional Growth

South Asia is entrenched in major trade barriers for many reasons. For one, these countries have similar economies, leading to similar manufacturing jobs, as well as other varieties of exports. Trade barriers also include infrastructural insufficiencies that facilitate regional trade. Basu and Ghosh (2020: 14) explain how the lack of infrastructure, which facilitates regional connectivity, decreases potential and tangible realization of regional economic growth and development. In older literature, Rahman (2010: 4) describes how the lack of border infrastructure stymies land trade between South Asian countries. For instance, 17 land ports handle about 90% of the land-based trade between India and Bangladesh. Despite high activity, these ports do not possess adequate storage infrastructure. Sattar (2012, p. 3) explains that the lack of land infrastructure to match trade capacity has necessitated resorting to maritime trade between Bangladesh and India.

      One of the worst attributes of land-based cross-border trade is corruption by border-based customs officials. According to a 2018 study by Neha Taneja on Bangladesh-India land-based trade of ready-made garment exports (RMG), 31% of Bangladesh's surveyed exporters claimed the practice of bribery by Indian customs officials (Taneja, 2018: 131). Without receiving bribery, the officials in question tend to lengthen inspection time or reject the consignments for failing to meet standards altogether. What is interesting is that, according to Taneja's survey, Bangladesh's exporters were able to seamlessly meet the export criteria imposed by India on RMG products. Furthermore, the additional quality checking at the borders does not fall within the responsibility paradigm of the customs officials.

      Additionally, there is a severe underreporting of trade among the South Asian countries. Informal trade between South Asian countries is approximately 50% of their formal intra-regional trade (Kathuria & Mathur, 2018: 11). This deficit is due to the high tariff and non-tariff measures in place.

      These factors paint a grim picture for SAARC going forward. India's strong economy and large size give it political influence, but issues like disagreements between countries, unclear rules that make free trade difficult, slow-moving organizations, and a lack of trust have held back cooperation in South Asia; still, the idea of working together hasn't been completely rejected.

Can SAARC be Revived Despite Institutional Setbacks and Political Stymies?

Can SAARC, as an institution, be revitalized despite the limitations and delimitations it faces? Kibria (2023a) suggests that SAARC can only be functional if the actors of the region proactively work to make it functional, with the active participation of transnational civil society organizations, businesses, and other relevant stakeholders.

      Professor Delwar Hossain opines that there is no alternative to SAARC for South Asian regional cooperation, an entity that is still active through other forms of meetings, such as the meeting of the foreign ministers (D. Hossain, personal communication, January 29, 2025). Tark Hasan Shemul, Research Fellow, Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), advised the South Asian leaders to enhance regional people-to-people exchange and interaction. He recommends Bangladesh, in particular, to engage on as many multilateral platforms as possible to receive benefits in the meantime (A. S. M. T. H. Semul, personal communication, 26 January 2025). While not directly addressing SAARC, Mohammad Aynul Islam recommends holding hope in favor of South Asian regionalism (M. A. Islam, personal communication, 16 February 2025).

      Professor Nurul Huda Sakib of the Department of Government and Politics, Jahangirnagar University, was very keen on the idea of SAARC’s revival. To move forward, he recommends that the countries work in unison to resolve any contentions amongst themselves, alluding to the India-Pakistan issue (N. H. Sakib, personal communication, 23 February 2025).

      On a less pessimistic note, Professor Abul Kalam Azad, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Security & Strategic Studies (FSSS), Bangladesh University of Professionals, did not see a future for SAARC. His emphatic reluctance to deem SAARC revivable is due to the ineffectiveness of the organization, primarily bogged down by the India-Pakistan rivalry (A. K. Azad, personal communication, 4 February 2025).

      Syed Raiyan Bin Samir quasi-pessimistically opined that the revitalization of SAARC was not possible in the foreseeable future, dominantly attributing the failure to resolve the India-Pakistan question to the longstanding territorial disagreements between India and Pakistan. He recommends focusing on an alternate regional mechanism exclusive to economic cooperation (S. R. Amir, personal communication, 4 February 2025).

      Alimul Razib opines that instead of focusing on reviving SAARC, countries such as Bangladesh should prioritize their extra-regional relations, focusing on the most productive bilateral ones. The interviewee stresses the need to focus on the export reality of the countries of the region, whose dominant trade relations are with the EU and the US (A. Razib, personal communication, 2 February 2025).

      As part of the general survey, the respondents were asked whether or not SAARC was successful as a regional organization (Figures 3 and 4).

      As a final question to the general survey, the respondents were asked whether or not regionalism through regional organizations was an obsolete concept (Figure 5).

      The experts’ opinions dictate a pattern of balance between optimism for a successful SAARC, while accents of pessimism linger regarding the organization's functional future or redeemable prospects. The support for SAARC, as observed, stems from pragmatism about the necessity of such a regional overhead while being cognizant of the hurdles along the way, especially institutional setbacks.

      The survey responses posited a pessimistic view of SAARC’s overall performance during its lifetime. They cited indifference to regionalism and SAARC's limited achievements over the years (Figures 3 and 4). However, the respondents dominantly shared the idea that SAARC has the potential to grow stronger and act more robustly (Figure 3). Moreover, the respondents advocated for the parallel pursuit of alternative bilateral and multilateral endeavors by the member countries while also pursuing regional integration through SAARC, striking a powerful and effective balance (Figure 5).

Recommendations: Reviving SAARC and Enhancing South Asian Regionalism

The following is a list of recommendations to facilitate the revival of SAARC, as well as to uplift the overall environment of South Asian regionalism.

1. As Professor Delwar Hossain suggests, there are no alternatives to SAARC for South Asia. The member countries are advised to prioritize the revitalization of SAARC from their individual positions and, as Kibria (2023a) suggests, make SAARC functional.
2. For South Asian regionalism to flourish, we must observe what is functioning around the world and apply the success stories in South Asia's context. Dr Mohammad Atique Rahman, Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, Dhaka University, demonstrates the need to incorporate global best practices of regionalism into South Asia's context. He recommends observing and studying the EU framework and practices (M. A. Rahman, personal communication, 19 February 2025).
3. We must ensure that intra-regional trade deals and agreements focus more on FDI transfers for production capability boosts and trade and connectivity infrastructure growth (Sbragia, 2008). Given the similarities between the economies in South Asia, focusing on mere trade alone will yield minimal results.
4. The research has observed successful bilateral trade agreements within the region, such as the India-Sri Lanka and Pakistan-Sri Lanka FTAs (Ur-Rashid and Khan, 2024). One other precedent that may be useful would be the 2010 key agreements and Memoranda of Understanding signed between India and Bangladesh to allow Bangladesh to use India as a transit to trade with Nepal and Bhutan (Hossain and Islam, 2021: 46). These precedents can act as a brilliant guiding tool to determine the trajectory of regional cooperation mechanisms and regional trade integration.
5. Dr Mohammad Atiq Rahman suggested a resolution of the India-Pakistan river dispute concerning the Indus Water Treaty. He also suggested that Bangladesh and India resolve their transboundary water dispute and implement a pragmatic river water-sharing agreement. He recommends following the global best practices of successful water-sharing treaties such as the La Plata Basin Treaty of Latin America, which was ratified between Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay and signed in 1969 (M. A. Rahman, personal communication, 19 February 2025).
6. SAARC countries should be extra wary of radical activities within their borders and ensure broader regional collaboration to combat terrorist elements and activities. The partners may act together to confront elements of radicalism and terrorism during the incipient stage of materialization and focus on extirpating the source of these activities as a long-term strategy.
7. If the unwillingness to carry on with SAARC persists, mainly due to the glaring Pakistan-India contentions, sub-regional economic groupings such as the South Asian Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) may be promoted. The current members of SASEC are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, and Nepal (SASEC, n.d.). SASEC has been receiving assistance primarily from the Asian Development Bank, mainly for energy and connectivity infrastructure, since 1997 (ADB, 2008: 16). The ineffectiveness of SAFTA in eliminating non-tariff trade barriers necessitates the adoption of alternative mechanisms like SASEC.
8. In addition to lowering trade barriers, we should facilitate cross-border haat, also known as ‘farmer's markets’, for low-income and low-yield businesses in the countries. This trade facilitation method, which already exists between Bangladesh and India, can be implemented with other country pairs within South Asia (Datt et al., 2018; Kathuria and Mathur, 2018: 23).
9. As recommended by Rahman (2010) and Sattar (2012), border infrastructure regarding cargo management capacity and storage facilities should be upgraded to facilitate land trade as necessary. Given that the lack of border infrastructure significantly affects Bangladesh-India and India-Pakistan trade relations, this upgrade will significantly boost their trade.
10. To maximize the outcomes of this regional trade agreement, we must reduce the quantity of sensitive products on the SAFTA list. This amendment will accelerate trade between countries within the region (Kathuria & Mathur, 2018: 15).
11. Alimul Razib recommends that the Dhaka and Chattagram International Trade Fairs, DITF and CITF, respectively, create a dedicated ‘SAARC Corner’ to ensure equal and balanced participation by all SAARC members (A. Razib, personal communication, 2 February 2025).
12. South Asia may be transformed into a resilient supply chain to boost trade and the flow of investment both within the region and from the outside.
13. Following the success and confirmation of Bangladesh’s purchase of Nepalese hydroelectricity via the Indian grid, the SAARC Energy Center is being advised to purposefully proceed with its Energy Ring plan for South Asia (SAARC Energy Centre, n.d.).
14. As part of ‘track two diplomacy,’ interaction, networking, and communication between South Asia's key regional stakeholders, such as experts, researchers, civil society members, scholars, entrepreneurs, and NGOs, should increase. The South Asian Economic Summit (SAES), which was inaugurated in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2008, consists of key regional think tanks that advocate for enhanced regional cooperation for South Asia and address the region's leaders (Kibria, 2023a).

      If these suggestions are acted upon, not just by Bangladesh but also by the government departments in each SAARC country, we can hope for a revival of SAARC, better South Asian regionalism, stronger connections, improved trust, and a significant increase in interaction among the member countries.

Conclusion

This research intended to examine whether SAARC, as an institution, could truly be revived despite institutional setbacks and geopolitical realities and to overall integrate the region to a point where regional integration could be on par with that of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) or the European Union (EU). The study begins by discussing the genesis, principles, and objectives of SAARC as a regional entity. It then shows SAARC's successes and failures, noting its achievements and where it lags behind its peers. The study then assesses the reality of SAARC and the future of its revival as an active organization, specifically using primary data derived from expert interviews and survey responses. The outcome was quite mixed; while veterans in the field favored a future with an active SAARC, they believed that this would require amending bilateral contentions and addressing members' grievances. In contrast, some other scholars and writers expressed a general distrust in SAARC's ability to serve the collective purpose of South Asia, often preferring bilateral engagements over multilateral ones. The general survey responses indicate a lack of trust in SAARC's capabilities based on past experiences. However, the majority viewed SAARC as having the potential to grow stronger. Additionally, the respondents suggest that South Asian countries should pursue other bilateral and multilateral economic endeavors in parallel, rather than concentrating all their efforts in one area. The study finally lists its set of policy recommendations to improve regional relations, resolve political contentions, and promote regional kinship and collective growth and development.

      SAARC is symbolic of resilience, despite its obvious stagnation over the years. Despite the pessimism surrounding SAARC's future prosperity, it can become functional going forward if the right decisions are made. To embolden South Asian regionalism, we must revitalize SAARC as an organization, no matter the hurdles in place.