The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was the brainchild of the late General Zia Ur Rehman, the former President of Bangladesh. He envisioned SAARC as a forum for alleviating the socio-economic problems of the people of South Asia. It was to be an intergovernmental platform on the lines of ASEAN and EU. General Zia’s proposal received an immediate response from Pakistan. SAARC was founded in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan were its founding members. Afghanistan joined later.
SAARC comprises 3% of the world’s land area, 21% of the world’s population, and 5.21% (USD 4.47 trillion) of the global economy, as of 2021. The first summit was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 7–8 December 1985 and was attended by the Government representatives and presidents of Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, the kings of Bhutan and Nepal, and the Prime Minister of India.
Read more: Bangladesh’s assistance to Sri Lanka reminds the urgency of SAARC revival
SAARC launched the South Asian Free Trade Area in 2006
When it was functional, SAARC maintained permanent diplomatic relations with the United Nations as an observer and had developed links with multilateral entities, including the European Union. On paper, these memberships still exist but, since2016, when India sabotaged SAARC, the memberships have become dysfunctional.
During the 1980s, the world was still bipolar – divided between the respective spheres of influence of the United States and the former Soviet Union. India, since the 1950s, had tried to make the best of both the worlds behind the cover of a third power bloc – the so-called Non-Aligned World. But by the 1980s, the Indian think tanks had started predicting that, with the Soviet Union embroiled in Afghanistan, and the United States facing an assertive Europe, the global order was veering towards a multipolar world.
India joined SAARC with its characteristic haughtiness and condescending behavior. With the prospects of a bipolar world looking favorable, Indian strategic planners were expecting to find a seat at the Captain’s Table- the dining table presided over by the captain, at which high-ranking crew or guests may also sit. With the multipolar world order in sight, the Indian think tanks wanted to bring entire South Asia, if not the whole of Asia, within the matrix of Indian security – a Pax Indication the lines of Pax Romana – the Roman Peace.
Read more: A shark within SAARC
Pax Romana refers to the period from 27 B.C.E. to 180 C.E. in the Roman Empire
This period saw peace and economic prosperity throughout the Empire, which spanned from England in the north to Morocco in the south and Iraq in the east.
The 19th SAARC summit was scheduled to be held in Islamabad on 15–19 November 2016 but got canceled after an attack on an Indian army camp in the Indian Held Kashmir. The summit was to be attended by the leaders of the eight SAARC member states and representatives of observer and guest states.
The 2016 Uri attack was carried out on 18 September by four Jaish-e-Mohammed militants against an Indian Army brigade headquarters near the town of Uri in the Indian Held Kashmir. Nineteen Indian soldiers were killed in the attack, and 19–30 others were injured. Such attacks always occur whenever an important event is going to take place in South Asia. In 2000, 40 Sikhs were killed in the Indian Held Kashmir just before the arrival of US President Bill Clinton’s five-day state visit to India. It was alleged by India that the Sikhs were killed by Pakistan-sponsored Kashmiri militants.
After the Uri attack, India again accused Pakistan and bragged about carrying out “surgical strikes” on militants across the LoC in Azad Kashmir. Islamabad dismissed the reports as an “illusion”. After sabotaging SAARC behind the façade of the Uri attack, India is promoting BIMSTEC.
Read more: SAARC applauds Pakistan’s decision for abolishing tax on all Afghanistan imports
On 6 June 1997, a new sub-regional grouping was formed in Bangkok under the name BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, Economic Cooperation). Following the inclusion of Myanmar on 22 December 1997 the group was renamed BIMST -EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation). In 1998, Nepal became an observer.
In February 2004, Nepal and Bhutan became full members
On 31 July 2004, in the first summit, the grouping was renamed BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectorial Technical and Economic Cooperation. BIMSTEC includes all the members of the dysfunctional SAARC except Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, at India’s urging, Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics are also attending, for the last many years, as BIMSTEC observers.
BIMSTECcovers 1.73 billion people and has a combined gross domestic product of US$4.4 trillion (2022). Fourteen priority sectors of cooperation have been identified and several BIMSTEC centers have been established to focus on those sectors. A BIMSTEC free trade agreement, similar to the one about SAARC, is under negotiation.
After the Indian engineered cancellation of the 2016 SAARC summit meeting, SAARC is in limbo. During this period, the successive Pakistani governments have remained indifferent and completely inert. Pakistan’s Foreign Office, following its past policy of remaining in a state of watchful waiting, has done nothing to re-activate SAARC except issue useless statements. One may ask what the Foreign Office has done to counter and neutralize Indian propaganda.
Read more: Pakistan cancels SAARC meeting due to Indian atrocities in IIOJK?
Indian-sponsored terrorist organizations like BLA, BRA, and TTP are fighting the Pakistan Army, causing significant damage and causalities to civilian and army personnel. Whereas India has succeeded, through its propaganda, to paralyze a regional forum like SAARC, Pakistan’s decision-makers are living in their cloud cuckoo world.
We should counter India’s moves by reactivating SAARC based on a new political alignment that will include, China, Maldives Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and maybe Iran. Other countries may join this group later on. If we look at the map, the proposed geo-economic alignment will be likened to a reinforced CPEC. It will provide a land route to Myanmar, Maldives, and Sri Lanka – the three countries to the east of the Sub-Continent – to trade with the Middle East. It will also provide a land route for Iran to trade with South East Asia. This is how Pakistan will not only neutralize the Indian move to isolate Pakistan in South Asia but will also open new trade opportunities for the member states to trade across South East Asia and the Middle East.
Saleem Akhtar Malik is a Pakistan Army veteran who writes on national and international affairs, defense, military history, and military technology. He Tweets at @saleemakhtar53. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.