Description
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established in 1985 with the intention of promoting regional cooperation among its member countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. SAARC's formation was not an easy one, and during its 40-year history, it has experienced many highs and lows in its attempts to foster closer ties among the nations of South Asia. Most notably, since 2016, no SAARC forums have been held, raising questions about the organization's future. Since its founding, the organisation has made some progress in advancing economic cooperation, disaster management, poverty alleviation, interpersonal relationships, and dialogue through its summits. However, over time, SAARC has also encountered numerous obstacles brought on by bilateral disputes, security concerns, erosion of the region's identity, a growth in right-wing populism, a failure to add and collaborate with new member states and the slow advancement of regional projects. Against this backdrop, this paper discusses an in-depth analysis of SAARC’s progress and provides a new perspective on how international organisations of this nature can both learn from each other but also fall prey to other region’s political and economic agendas at the detriment of maintaining prosperous relations with their own neighbours.
