{"id":120032,"date":"2021-11-05T16:17:03","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T23:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=120032"},"modified":"2021-11-05T16:17:03","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T23:17:03","slug":"all-member-states-should-revive-the-saarc-as-a-regional-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/11\/05\/all-member-states-should-revive-the-saarc-as-a-regional-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"All member states should revive the SAARC as a regional platform"},"content":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The\nofficial journey of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation\n(SAARC) started in 1985 when seven states namely India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,\nNepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives formed this regional platform. Later\nin 2007, Afghanistan joined SAARC. Sri Lanka and the Maldives are island states\namong the eight SAARC members. On the other hand, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan\nare landlocked countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Realising\nthat the unprecedented progress that other regions of the world have made by\nincreasing regional communication and cooperation, the same development of this\nregion is possible if the communication and cooperation between the states in\nthis region can be increased to the desired level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparing SAARC with other blocs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nEU, ASEAN, GCC and other regional blocs have achieved prosperity by joining the\nregional alliances. Citizens of these regional alliances excluding some member\nstates are not required to obtain visas if they wish to travel from one allied\ncountry to another. Citizens of these regions can travel from one country to\nanother by road, rail, sea or air without any hindrance in their respective\nterritories. Even citizens of these regions can travel from one country to\nanother in private cars. These regional alliances give more importance to\nregional trade in the development of their respective regions. It accelerated\nthe development of these regions to increase regional trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nthe establishment of SAARC, it was hoped that citizens of one country would be\nable to travel to another without a visa. One country would provide transit\nfacilities to another country as required, including moving from one country to\nanother by private car. But that goal has not yet been achieved. And, the\nprospect of achieving that in the near future is not very bright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmain objective of establishing SAARC was to make the region one of the most\nprosperous in the world by enhancing regional connectivity and cooperation.\nBut, almost 30 years after the establishment, it is clear that there is still a\nlong way to go to achieve that goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India\nis the largest of the SAARC countries in terms of size and population. The\nsecond place belongs to Pakistan. Before the establishment of SAARC, India and\nPakistan were engaged in three all-out wars. The state of Bangladesh was born\nin 1971 in Pakistan through a hardcore struggle. Perhaps, this background has\nalso blocked the region to move ahead as other blocs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capitalizing on available resources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nSAARC region is home to more than a quarter of the world\u2019s population. This\nregion is the most populous region in the world. In recent times, the countries\nof the region have made great strides in agriculture. While the industrial\ndevelopment of the region is promising, there is a need to harness the\npotential for further development along the way. The scope of regional trade\nbetween SAARC countries is still limited. If this scope is expanded, the SAARC\nmember states will be able to achieve unprecedented development within their\nown borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among\nthe SAARC countries, Nepal and Bhutan are bounded on the east, west and south\nby India. Although the two states are bordered by China on the north side,\ntheir entire border is rugged. So, communication in that direction is very\nimpenetrable. Nepal and Bhutan are completely dependent on India for foreign\ntrade. Although these two countries have long demanded transit facilities from\nthe regional structure of SAARC through the two seaports of Chittagong and Mongla\nin Bangladesh, the slow pace of implementation has tarnished the spirit of\nSAARC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nseven states of eastern India are called the Seven Sisters. As these seven\nstates are surrounded by other states, these states maintain communication with\nthe mainland of India through a narrow route called the Chicken Neck Corridor.\nCommunication through this route is time-consuming and expensive. India is\ninterested in establishing transit by road, rail and waterways with these seven\nstates through Bangladesh. Although the transit is open by water, it is not\nfruitful throughout the year due to the low navigability of the rivers in\ndifferent places. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nthe other hand, Bangladesh is on the way to develop the infrastructure required\nfor transit by road and rail for the usage of transit. Bangladesh would like to\nbe a transit hub between South Asia and South-East Asia. Bangladesh is focusing\non regional connectivity more. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is\nliberal in this regard. She always urges regional countries to be connected.\nShe wants to make the way for Nepal and Bhutan for the usage of Bangladeshi\nseaports such as Chattogram, Mangla, Payra ports and Saidpur airport in\nNilphamari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediate concerns<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nknow the Afghan Crisis. A platform of regional countries like SAARC is needed\nto address such problems. But now, SAARC is inactive<\/strong> due to the Indo-Pak dispute. Pakistan and India should work\ntogether to revive SAARC for the maximisation of regional interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile,\n54 common rivers flowing through India have fallen into the Bay of Bengal\nthrough Bangladesh. By unilaterally withdrawing water from most of these rivers\nupstream, India is using it to maintain the navigability of inland rivers,\nincluding hydropower generation and irrigation in agriculture. Bangladesh has\nfaced an unfavourable situation due to the unilateral withdrawal of water by\nIndia and the consciousness of SAARC never allows one neighbouring state to\ncreate an unfavourable environment for another neighbour. India should work\ntogether with Bangladesh in regard to better regional benefits. India should\ncomplete a fair Teesta agreement with Bangladesh soon to maximise the mutual\nbenefit. As a big fish in this region, it has some accountability towards\nothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disregarding\nand ignoring the spirit of SAARC as other SAARC member states are smaller than\nit, India has always shown a great vicious attitude towards other SAARC member\nstates. Due to this behaviour of India, SAARC is failing to reach its goal on\nthe one hand and the political stability of other SAARC member states is also\nbeing endangered on the other hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although\nIndia has road and rail links with Bangladesh and Pakistan, trade is being\nconducted through transhipment due to the lack of transit facilities.\nCommunication is not very easy as the citizens of these three countries also\nneed a visa to communicate. It is as easy as possible for an Indian citizen to\ntravel to these two countries by obtaining a visa from Bangladesh and Pakistan;\nit is not easy for the citizens of these two countries to travel to that\ncountry by getting an Indian visa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\npresent, the trade between Nepal and Bhutan with Bangladesh is being handled\nthrough transhipment in the absence of transit. As a result, the import and\nexport expenditure of both the states is increasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India\u2019s\neconomy is growing rapidly. Bangladesh\u2019s economy is also booming day by day.\nBesides, the economies of all other countries in South Asia are also\ndeveloping. Under the scope of regional cooperation, the following provisions\nshould be introduced to reap benefits from this platform:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Transit facilities between\n SAARC countries are opened <\/li>
  • The visa system is abolished <\/li>
  • The currency of one country is\n easily exchanged in another country or common currency is introduced <\/li>
  • Travel facility from one\n country to another in a private car is introduced <\/li>
  • The flow of electricity, gas,\n oil and water from one country to another is made easily available <\/li>
  • The same SIM card can be used\n to talk from one country to another easily and cheaply <\/li>
  • The scope of trade is maximised<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    This requires the SAARC countries to show the highest level\nof friendship and harmony towards each other and to make the best use of\nopportunities and cooperation. <\/strong>All member states should revive the SAARC as a\nregional platform.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    MD Pathik Hasan The official journey of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) started in 1985 when seven states namely India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives formed this regional platform. Later in 2007, Afghanistan joined SAARC. Sri Lanka and the Maldives are island states among the eight SAARC members. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-md-pathik-hasan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120032\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}