The 'South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation' ('SAARC') is an economic and political organization of eight countries in
Southern Asia. In terms of population, its
sphere of influence is the largest of any
regional organization: almost 1.5 billion people, the combined population of its member states. It was established on
December 8,
1985 by
India,
Pakistan,
Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka,
Nepal,
Maldives and
Bhutan. In
April 2007, at the Association's 14th summit,
Afghanistan became its eighth member.
History
In the late
1970s, Bangladesh's president
Ziaur Rahman proposed the creation of a trade bloc consisting of South Asian countries. The Bangladeshi proposal was accepted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka during a meeting held in
Colombo in
1981. In August 1983, the leaders adopted the Declaration on South Asian Regional Cooperation during a summit which was held in New Delhi. The seven South Asian countries, which also included
Nepal,
Maldives and
Bhutan, agreed on five areas of cooperation:
★ Agriculture and Rural Development
★ Telecommunications, Science, Technology and Meteorology
★ Health and Population Activities
★ Transport
★ Human Resource Development
Afghanistan was added to the regional grouping at the behest of India on November 13, 2005,
[1] and became a member on April 3, 2007.
[2] With the addition of Afghanistan, the total number of member states were raised to eight (8). In April 2006, the
United States of America and
South Korea made formal requests to be granted observer status. The
European Union has also indicated interest in being given observer status, and made a formal request for the same to the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting in July 2006.
[3][4] On
August 2 2006 the foreign ministers of the SAARC countries agreed in principle to grant observer status to the US, South Korea and the European Union. On
4 March 2007,
Iran requested observer status.
[5]
Ineffectiveness
SAARC's inability to play a crucial role in integrating South Asia is often credited to the political and military rivalry between India and Pakistan. Pakistan's unwillingness to implement the tariff reductions in SAFTA (an outgrowth of SAARC) have contributed to SAARC's problems. It is due to these economic, political, and territorial disputes that South Asian nations have not been able to harness the benefits of a unified economy. Over the years, SAARC's role in South Asia has been greatly diminished and is now used as a mere platform for annual talks and meetings between its members.
Political issues
SAARC has intentionally laid more stress on "core issues" mentioned above rather than more decisive political issues like the
Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan and the
Sri Lankan civil war. However, political dialogue is often conducted on the margins of SAARC meetings. SAARC has also refrained itself from interfering in the internal matters of its member states. During the 12th and 13th SAARC summits, extreme emphasis was laid upon greater cooperation between the SAARC members to fight
terrorism.
Free trade agreement
Over the years, the SAARC members have expressed their unwillingness on signing a free trade agreement. Though India has several trade pacts with Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, similar trade agreements with Pakistan and Bangladesh have been stalled due to political and economic concerns on both sides. In 1993, SAARC countries signed an agreement to gradually lower tariffs within the region, in Dhaka. Nine years later, at the 12th SAARC Summit at
Islamabad, SAARC countries devised the
South Asia Free Trade Agreement which created a framework for the establishment of a
free trade area covering 1.4 billion people. This agreement went into force on July 1, 2006. Under this agreement, SAARC members will bring their duties down to 20 per cent by
2007.
Dhaka 2005 Summit
The summit accorded observer status to
People's Republic of China,
Japan,
South Korea and
United States of America. The nations also agreed to organize development funds under a single financial institution with a permanent secretariat, that would cover all SAARC programs ranging from social, to infrastructure, to economic ones.
Membership
Secretaries General
List of SAARC summits
Future membership
★ The
People's Republic of China has shown its interest in joining SAARC.
[9] While Pakistan and Bangladesh support China's candidature, India is more reluctant about the prospect of Chinese membership, while Bhutan does not even have diplomatic relations with China.
[10] However, during the 2005 Dhaka summit, India agreed on granting observer status to the PRC along with
Japan. During the 14th summit, Nepal announced its support for the membership of China.
[11] Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal gave strong support for the membership of China.
[12][13]
★ The
Islamic Republic of Iran, a state with borders to two SAARC members, has traditionally enjoyed strong cultural, economic and political relationship with Afghanistan, India and Pakistan and has expressed its desire to become a member of the South Asian organization. On
22 February 2005, the Foreign Minister of
Iran,
Kamal Kharrazi, indicated Iran's interest in joining SAARC by saying that his country could provide the region with "East-West connectivity".
[14] However, due to the on-going row over
Iran's nuclear facilities, it seems unlikely that Iran would be accepted as a member. On
3 March 2007, Iran asked to join the SAARC as an observer. SAARC Secretary-General
Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji responded by saying that Iran's request for observer status would be taken up during a meeting of ministers of foreign affairs of SAARC member countries in the
3 April summit in New Delhi.
[15][13]
★ The
Russian Federation would like to become an observer as well. India supports Russia's entry.
[17][18]
★
Union of Myanmar has also expressed an interest in joining as an observer.
Comparison with other regional blocs
See also
★
South Asia Free Trade Agreement
★
SAARC Consortium on Open and Distance Learning
★
Trade bloc
★
BIMSTEC
★
Asia Cooperation Dialogue
★
South Asian Economic Union
★
SAARC Countries Transportation System
References
1. indiatimes.com
2. South Asia: Afghanistan Joins World's Largest Regional Grouping
3. news.bbc.co.uk
4. hindustantimes.com
5. english.people.com.cn
6. thehimalayantimes.com
7. tehrantimes.com
8. english.people.com.cn
9. Afghan and further Chinese membership prospects
10. China's membership prospects
11. chennaionline.com
12. telegraphnepal.com
13. irna.ir
14. Iran's membership prospects
15. upi.com
16. irna.ir
17. english.people.com.cn
18. monstersandcritics.com
External links
★
Official website
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
