Inter-state conflicts and contentious issues in south asia

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)

The organization of eight South Asian nations, namely India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan with observer nations, Myanmar, China, Iran, the European Union (EU), and the United States, to name a few, is known as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). It was established at the first summit in Dhaka on December 7-8, 1985. India, significantly, constitutes 70 per cent or more of SAARC's area and population. All have a shared culture, ethnicity, and experienced long interactive historical events including British imperialism and its consequences.

Over the years, SAARC has attempted to address several regional concerns, for instance drug and human trafficking, economic cooperation among South Asian states, and the forging of a South Asian social identity. Most recently, efforts have been made to tackle the menace of terrorism in the region. Despite its stated intentions, SAARC as a regional body has for years grappled with interstate, intra-state, and regional conflicts. Since its existence in 1985, SAARC has been criticized for its failure to forge an effective regional identity.

Inter-state conflicts and the bilateral interests of member states have a decisive influence on the achievements of SAARC; the regional body has also been influenced by external players and other regional organizations. SAARC, regrettably, has yet to develop into a conflict-mediating or conflict-resolving institution both on multilateral and bilateral issues.

Seminar and Publication

This publication is a by-product of a very successful ICSSR sponsored National Seminar organized by the Department of Political Science – University School of Open Learning, Panjab University, Chandigarh from March 24-25, 2014. The book comprises papers presented during the National Seminar from learned and distinguished experts, academicians, and research scholars.

This study evaluates SAARC as a living and developing organization, and efforts have been made to cover all aspects in an objective manner. This edited work aims to highlight the debilitating effect of inter-state conflicts in South Asia on regional cooperation. Analyses have focused primarily on the negative association of interstate conflict and regionalism in South Asia; however, the study also discusses how other regional cooperation mechanisms in South Asia have coped with such challenges to promote a vibrant regional identity.

The study also analyses various development policies and Confidence Building Measures initiated by the respective Governments, and provides useful suggestions and policy recommendations to tackle the challenges in South Asia. This book should serve as an important source, providing a wealth of information about the existing issues of contention in the South Asian region that have been hampering regional economic cooperation and integration under the forum of SAARC.

This book will be highly useful for readers interested in studying the issues, problems, and conflicts in South Asia.