Does SAARC serve its purpose?

he first SAARC summit comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka was held in Dhaka in December 1985. President Hussain Ershad of Bangladesh is widely remembered as the father of the SAARC concept. It was a time when the countries of the South Asia region were in a state of political turmoil.

• India and Pakistan were in a state of an undeclared state of  war -squabbling over the  ‘ownership’ of Kashmir. 
• In 1971, India intervened to bifurcate the state of Pakistan and set up the state of Bangladesh. 
• Insurgencies wracked Nepal and Sri Lanka. 
• Afghanistan had been invaded by the Soviet Union and was involved is a titanic battle to drive the invader out.
• Pakistan was deeply involved with rebels fighting the Soviet Union-imposed government in Afghanistan. 
• Bhutan –a land-locked country - was totally dependent on India for a route to the outside world

Sadly , today over 30 years after its conception and birth SAARC has been unable to achieve very few if any of the goals based on its founding principles…

• Promoting the welfare of the people of South Asia… while nearly all of the countries in the grouping have individually been able to raise the respective standards of living of their populations, the organization SAARC has contributed little if at all to this effort,
• Accelerating economic growth and social progress… here again SAARC has proved to be a dismal failure. India is the biggest market within the grouping, but countries with weaker economies in SAARC are not to provided any opportunity to break into this huge market.

The Indian bureaucracy is set up in a manner to prevent weaker foreign countries from breaking into the Indian market, even if the Indian Central Government waives customs duties and levies on countries within SAARC. The autonomous states within the Indian Union can and do impose all manner of local taxes and levies on imported goods to ensure these goods are not in a position to compete with local products.

• Building trust, appreciation and fostering good neighbourly relations for problems faced by members states… This has been the biggest farce perpetrated on the member states of SAARC countries. 

Both India and Pakistan use the Kashmiri people as pawns in their power games to gain complete control of the Kashmir region. Today one section of Kashmir is occupied by Indian forces referred to as ‘Indian Occupied Kashmir’ (IOK) while the other is referred as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and is occupied by Pakistani forces. Both countries cynically use the plight of the Kashmiri people to claim human rights abuses by the other. Since 1989, over 50,000 people are said to have died during the conflict. 

The widespread armed insurgency in Kashmir followed the disputed legislative assembly elections in 1987 which saw the beginning of the Mujahedeen insurrection which continues today. India at that time said the insurgency was largely started by Afghan mujahedeen who entered the Kashmir valley following the end of the Soviet-Afghan War.

During Sri Lanka’s internal war India sided with terrorists movements. It permitted terrorists to have camps in India, permitted cross-border strikes against innocent civilians, and even carried out aerial airdrop mission against the Sri Lankan government forces combating the terrorists in the late 80s, although the situation changed significantly much later.

In Nepal once again it was unfortunately India which once again backed groups protesting the new Constitution of Nepal which was drawn up by its elected legislators. India imposed a blockade of the land-locked country and brought about the downfall of the elected government.

Even simple matters like easing travel restrictions between members of within SAARC countries have not been formulated as yet. Even today a Sri Lankan visiting India cannot enter India without a visa obtained prior to him/her leaving Sri Lanka.  Though Sri Lanka issues Indian nationals visas at port of arrival, India does not reciprocate the gesture… so much for enhancing good neighbourly relations. The most recent Pakistani provocations and India’s reactions have brought relationships within SAARC to a new low.

The Kashmir issue is not going to blow away any time in the near future… it will probably continue for decades if not longer. SAARC therefore will not be able to move forward towards achieving the goals set by its founding fathers. It’s time to call a spade a spade; SAARC has failed. Let us stop this farce and dissolve SAARC.