Bangladesh University of Professionals

Department of Law
Program: LL.M. (Master of Laws)

Course Title: International Organizations

Course Code: (Law: 5104)
Assignment Topic: SAARC: An Evaluation of its Achievements and
Failures.

Submitted To:
Md. Rabiul Islam
Associate Professor
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Law
Faculty of Security and Strategic Studies (FSSS)
Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)

Submitted By:
Masudur Rahman Rana
ID: 2042361045
E-mail: ranalaw65@gmail.com
Date of Submission: 07.07.2020

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Serial List of Contents Page

Number Numbers
• Cover Page 1

• Table of Contents 2

• Abstract 3

1. Introduction 4

2. Origin of SAARC 4

3. Achievements of SAARC 4-6

4. Reasons for Failure of SAARC 6-7

5. Recommendations 8

6. Conclusion 9

• Bibliography 10-11

2
 Abstract:

In the face of increasing importance of regionalism, SAARC stands unavoidable and significant
organization in South Asia. Since its formation in 1985, it has played an important role by
bringing the member countries closer together by holding various meetings and summits at
various levels. A qualitative research method is used to evaluate the success and failure of
SAARC. Basically, the idea of SAARC is to promote peace, harmony and economic growth
through the cooperation of South Asian States, by sharing the available resources and to build
trust among parties and also by facilitating collaboration and regular contact between political
leaders. An evaluation has been made of its achievements and reasons of failures. At the end,
suggestions have been put forwarded for removing the existent hurdles and to move the wheel of
integration in South Asia more quickly for improving the conditions of poor people in this
region.

Key Words: SAARC, India-Pakistan, South Asia, Failure, Clash, Collaboration, Politics.

3
 1. Introduction:
The lingering legacies of South Asia’s colonial past; uncontrolled human and other movements
across sensitive, porous unsettled borders; ethnic and religious differences; intra-regional
economic disparities and resultant bilateral disputes were some factors delaying establishment of
the SAARC until 1985.1 Its Charter ruled out "bilateral and contentious issues" from its agenda
as a protective clause. It is important to note that the main idea behind SAARC formation was
the promotion of political, economic and social interaction, common vision for using region’s
potential and interdependence to counter threats. Though unsuccessful in some fields, the overall
assessment of SAARC performance shows not very negative trends but emphasizes the need to
collaborate further by resolving all outstanding disputes among the member countries and to
create understanding on stable basis.

2. Origin of SAARC:
SAARC is an organization of South Asian nations, established on December 8, 1985.2 It is
headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Idea of SAARC came into existence in 1980 at the
initiation of former Bangladesh President Zia-ur Rahman.3 Prior to this, the idea of South Asian
integration was discussed in at least three conferences: the Asian Relations Conference in New
Delhi in April 1947, the Baguio Conference in the Philippines in May 1950, and the Colombo
Powers Conference in April 1954.4 The governments of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka formally adopted its charter providing for the promotion of
social, economic and cultural development within the South Asian region and also for friendship
and cooperation with other developing countries. While as a 8th member State, Afghanistan
joined the organization in 2007.

1
Irum Shaheen: South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC): Its Role, Hurdles and Prospects
(IOSR-JHSS, Volume 15, 2013)
2
Abdullah Al Arif and Md Ershadul Karim: A Research Guide on SAARC
<https://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/SAARC> accessed on 30 June, 2020
3
U Javaid: South Asia in Perspective, Lahore (Punjab University Press, 2013) p136
4
S Rehman: Regional Economic Cooperation in South Asia; A Modernization Perspective (Greenwood Press,
London, 1999) pp 268-271

4
 3. Achievements of SAARC:
In the past thirty five years, SAARC has made tremendous improvement owing to the interaction
and cooperative efforts being put in by the member states. The progress and development of
SAARC during the recent years can be looked at under the following headings:

i. Substantial Increase in Cooperation5:


• South Asian University, New Delhi
• SAARC International College, Bangladesh
• Agreement on Judicial cooperation on Counter-Terrorism
• Establishment of Food Bank, Development Funds
• South Asia Foundation

ii. SAFTA: SAARC introduced SAFTA to boost trade between the Member States and in
December 1995, emphasizing that there was a need to understand the “South Asian Free
Zone Exchange” (SAFTA).6
iii. South Asian Identity: The most important achievements of SAARC are to bring the
members of the states close and think about regional issues and identity.
iv. Financial Cooperation: The positive direction is being made regarding financial
cooperation while considering and opening new doors for cooperation.
v. Poverty Eradication: As one of the poorest regions of the world, it is one of the most
important priorities of SAARC to give attention to this main objective of poverty
alleviation.
vi. Focus on Youth: The SAARC Youth Award is awarded to outstanding individuals from
the SAARC region.
vii. Integrated Programme of Action (IPA): It is an important programme of SAARC
process and includes 12 areas of cooperation.
• Agriculture Technical committee

5
S Kripa: Regional Organizations and Conflict Management (2008) pp 12-15
6
Muhammad Muzaffar: SAARC: An Evaluation of its Achievements, Failures, and Compulsion for Cooperation
(Volume II, 2017)

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 • Communications
• Education, Culture and Sports
• Environment
• Health, Population Activities and Child Welfare
• Meteorology
• Prevention of Drug Trafficking and Drug Abuse
• Rural Development
• Science and Technology
• Tourism
• Transport
• Women in Development

viii. SAARC Arbitration Council: The arbitration council is an achievement of SAARC to

provide a legal forum for the South Asian nations for solving conflicts.
ix. People to People Contact: The South Asian region could become a conflict-free area if
the members of the states and people of south Asian region build maximum acceptance of
the concerns which are vital for the progress.
x. Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs): SAARC has enabled CBMs to be presented at
the highest level and also has succeeded in reducing the conflicts.

4. Reasons for Failure of SAARC:

There are some serious constraints which are, no doubt, not allowing South Asian cooperation to
develop. Some of these hurdles/failures can be described as:
i. Inter-state Disputes in South Asia: All the members of this organization feel in one
way or another threat to their political, economic and territorial stability from the
neighboring countries.7

7
D Weerakoon and S Sayawriya: Regional Integration (Dhaka Conference Paper, 2002) pp 10-19

6
 ii. Fear of Indian Domination: Indian desire to participate in the decision making process
of the region as a leader has caused concerns among the neighboring countries
particularly Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.8
iii. Civilizations Clash: No country in the region is having any feeling of belongingness
with the other state.
iv. India-Pakistan Relations: India and Pakistan clash is one of the major factor for the
failure of the SAARC.
v. Unstable Financial Positions: The weak financial position of the member countries has
also created an uncertain future for this organization.
vi. Balance between India and Member Countries: There is economic, technological and
demographic imbalance between India and other member countries of SAARC.
vii. Exclusion of Contentious Issues from SAARC Charter: The Charter has the provision
of not discussing the contentious and bilateral disputes.9 It avoids negotiations on
bilateral disputes. The charter also requires that all the decisions will be taken
unanimously which becomes quite difficult.
viii. Lack of Trust among the Member Countries: There is also lack of trust among the
member states of SAARC which does not auger well for future development of this
regional organization.

 Some other Problems with SAARC:

There are also some other constraints with the processes of SAARC which can be described as
follows:
• Border clashes
• Territorial Dispute: Kashmir Dispute
• Water dispute
• Dealing with Terrorism
• Lack of people to people contacts
• Lack of strong infrastructure

8
H Malik: Dilemmas of National Security and Cooperation in India and Pakistan (New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1993)
9
Ibid, p 4

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• Pathetic condition of South Asia
• Lack of political will at the leadership level
• Different political systems

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 5. Recommendations:
South Asian region can be stabilized and cemented if policy initiatives both at the government
and non-government levels are taken by South Asian leaders with commitment and mutual trust.
Some of these initiatives and policy actions can be suggested as such:
i. India should play her role not as a big brother but as an equal partner for the stability and
cooperation in South Asia.10
ii. Conflict Conciliation Groups can be formed for resolving the bilateral disputes.
iii. The SAARC Charter must provide for discussions on the international issues among the
leaders of the member countries.
iv. SAARC, in its provisions to resolve the bilateral disputes, this should be allowed and
unanimously decision taking ability should be relaxed.
v. The role of individual governments of all the eight member countries is very important.
vi. In order to strengthen the regional economic block, trade and investments activities
should be increased among the South Asian neighbors.
vii. Establishment of free trade areas by removing all trade tariff and non-tariffs barriers.
viii. There is a need to build a South Asian identity based on common customs rooted in the
cultural, historical, social, ethnic and civilization traditions.
ix. Structural changes are needed to make SAARC more responsive to existing conditions as
well as for quicker implementation of policies.

10
Ibid, p 4

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 6. Conclusion:
The formation of SAARC is a landmark step taken by the leaders of the region. The main
rational11 behind its establishment is to develop a conducive environment where all nations may
interact peacefully with each other, cultivate sustainable peace and promote mutual economic
well-being by utilizing available resources in the region through the peaceful process of
economic cooperation. But after the founding of the SAARC, members of the South Asian
Region nor the organization itself have been able to maximize the integration progress in
economical and political measures. Everything with SAARC is not dark. Indeed, the formation
of SAARC itself proves that its member States are willing to progress in various social,
economic and security fields.12 Regardless of SAARC's weaknesses, this is the only platform
where South Asian leaders gather to talk over local problems. We can hope better about the
future of SAARC but not too much because of India-Pakistan clash is still the big danger in this
region. Though overall development of this organization is marred by internal disputes and
various other factors but still its establishment and the sense to develop regional integration has
created a hope for its future progress.

11
The News Pakistan (December 14, 2007) <https://www.dawn.com/news/1070742> accessed on 30 June, 2020
12
Ibid, p 4

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 Bibliography:

o Primary Sources:

Statutes:

• South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, 1985

o Secondary Sources:

Journal Articles:
• D Weerakoon and S Sayawriya: Regional Integration (Dhaka Conference Paper, 2002) pp
10-19
• H Malik: Dilemmas of National Security and Cooperation in India and Pakistan (New
York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993)
• Irum Shaheen: South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC): Its Role,
Hurdles and Prospects (IOSR-JHSS, Volume 15, 2013)
• Muhammad Muzaffar: SAARC: An Evaluation of its Achievements, Failures, and
Compulsion for Cooperation (Volume II, 2017)
• S Kripa: Regional Organizations and Conflict Management (2008) pp 12-15
• S Rehman: Regional Economic Cooperation in South Asia; A Modernization Perspective
(Greenwood Press, London, 1999) pp 268-271
• U Javaid: South Asia in Perspective, Lahore (Punjab University Press, 2013) p136

Website and Blogs:

• Abdullah Al Arif and Md Ershadul Karim: A Research Guide on SAARC
<https://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/SAARC> accessed on 30 June, 2020

Newspaper Articles:
• The News Pakistan (December 14, 2007) <https://www.dawn.com/news/1070742>
accessed on 30 June, 2020

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