The pandemic is an opportunity for the member nations to revive the SAARC spirit

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), after 35 years of its existence, has almost become a relic of the past. An organisation that was launched for regional cooperation has been dying a slow death ever since its inception on December 8, 1985. It was to bring together the 21 per cent of the world’s population living in South Asia. The idea was to help the region by economic cooperation. It, however, did not go beyond declarations that were never implemented by the member nations. South Asia remains one of the most impoverished regions in the world. The interaction among SAARC nations, which share a common heritage and history, is dismally low. The grouping was mooted on the lines of ASEAN, which would provide a common economic zone that would help trade and make people prosperous. It was supposed to increase people-to-people contact. To build a framework for economic cooperation, it contemplated the South Asian Economic Union (SAEU) to promote Free Trade Area, Customs Union, a Common Market and a Common Economic and Monetary Union.

The idea was indeed very promising, yet it never took off as it was defeated by regional politics. Pakistan’s obsession with Kashmir made it impossible to make it a workable entity. The result was that no SAARC leaders’ meeting took place after Kathmandu in 2014 till 2020. The 2016 meeting was, though, boycotted by India due to the Uri attack. A ray of hope for regional cooperation came in the form of the Corona pandemic. Just like elsewhere, the pandemic affected the people of this region as well. This was the time when regional cooperation could have helped the member countries in terms of medicine, medical facilities and other necessary equipment. Though some positive trends emerged but they had limited scope. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the initiative on March 15, 2020, as India led from the front. It hosted a virtual meeting of the SAARC leaders; India pledged $10 million to a fund to fight Corona and other nations followed suit. India also donated vaccines to the member nations. This meeting was indeed path-breaking. At the ground level, the SAARC Disaster Management Centre has set up a website (http://www.covid19-sdmc.org/) for SAARC countries. A special cell in the Ministry of External Affairs is coordinating and monitoring with SAARC countries. Hope this revives SAARC and regional cooperation gets a new lease of life.