With media attention focussed on south Asia since September, people across the world have come to know that it is a region marred by conflict. Sri Lanka has to cope with the Tamil Tigers. Nepal with Maoists. Pakistan with innumerable Islamic terrorist outfits. India with cross border terrorism. Ethnic identities in South Asia are not restricted to national frontiers. Instead, they spill over across the entire region. If Tamils are present in India, they live in ample numbers across Sri Lanka. Same is the case with Muslims, Ghurkhas, Sindhees Bengalis and so on. This complicates the problem because a community in minority at one place gains majority in another. Suppression or preferential treatment of one community in one region creates ripples in others. Can South Asia cooperate amidst such diversity? Have we made an effort to work together with each other for promoting peace, development and economic well-being? Can we work with each other to eradicate common problems, which are so many. Do South Asians have an acumen for working together?
The answer is yes. South Asians do realise the imperative of regional cooperation. They began to work for establishing a south Asian Association of Regional Cooperation in the eighties. Just as the people of Europe had to ignore the reality of royal rivalries and Balkanisation, South Asians had to ignore the sourness inflicted during British rule. They had to somehow overcome the divisions injected into them as a consequence of the partition of the Indian sub-continent, which came as an unwanted gift of British withdrawal.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) comprises the seven countries of South Asia, i.e. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SAARC is a manifestation of the determination of the peoples of South Asia to work together towards finding solutions to their common problems in a spirit of friendship, trust and understanding and to create an order based on mutual respect, equity and shared benefits. The primary objective of the Association is the acceleration of the process of economic and social development in member states, through collective action in agreed areas of cooperation.
The idea of regional cooperation among south Asian countries was first mooted by General Irshad of Bangladesh in November 1980. In April 1981, the Foreign Secretaries of seven SAARC nations met in Colombo to consider this proposal seriously. In august 1983, the foreign ministers of SARC nations met for the first time in New Delhi. They adopted the declaration on SAARC and launched the Integrated Programme of Action, which highlights five broad areas of mutual cooperation between these countries. These area: agriculture, rural development, telecommunication, meteorology, health and population activities. Later, Transport, Postal Services, Scientific and Technological cooperation, sports, arts and culture were also added to the Programme. The Heads of State of the SAARC countries met for the first time in Dhaka on December 7-8 1985 when this Association was formally launched.
The answer is yes. South Asians do realise the imperative of regional cooperation. They began to work for establishing a south Asian Association of Regional Cooperation in the eighties. Just as the people of Europe had to ignore the reality of royal rivalries and Balkanisation, South Asians had to ignore the sourness inflicted during British rule. They had to somehow overcome the divisions injected into them as a consequence of the partition of the Indian sub-continent, which came as an unwanted gift of British withdrawal.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) comprises the seven countries of South Asia, i.e. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SAARC is a manifestation of the determination of the peoples of South Asia to work together towards finding solutions to their common problems in a spirit of friendship, trust and understanding and to create an order based on mutual respect, equity and shared benefits. The primary objective of the Association is the acceleration of the process of economic and social development in member states, through collective action in agreed areas of cooperation.
The idea of regional cooperation among south Asian countries was first mooted by General Irshad of Bangladesh in November 1980. In April 1981, the Foreign Secretaries of seven SAARC nations met in Colombo to consider this proposal seriously. In august 1983, the foreign ministers of SARC nations met for the first time in New Delhi. They adopted the declaration on SAARC and launched the Integrated Programme of Action, which highlights five broad areas of mutual cooperation between these countries. These area: agriculture, rural development, telecommunication, meteorology, health and population activities. Later, Transport, Postal Services, Scientific and Technological cooperation, sports, arts and culture were also added to the Programme. The Heads of State of the SAARC countries met for the first time in Dhaka on December 7-8 1985 when this Association was formally launched.
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