News Highlight:
How BIMSTEC can replace SAARC, as BIMSTEC is key to a new South Asian regional order. Reviving SAARC in the current scenario is too idealistic.
Key Takeaway:
- December 8 is commemorated as SAARC Charter Day. South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), an intergovernmental organisation, was established 37 years ago.
- SAARC has failed abjectly in accomplishing most of its objectives.
- The intraregional trade and investment in South Asia are very low when compared to other regions such as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Sub-Saharan Africa.
SAARC:
- Establishment:
- SAARC was first envisioned in the late 1970s by Gen. Ziaur Rahman, the military dictator of Bangladesh.
- Initially, India was apprehensive about SAARC because it perceived the grouping to be an attempt by its smaller neighbours to unite against it.
- Eventually, India agreed to join SAARC due to the interest expressed by the neighbouring countries.
- The first SAARC meeting took place in Dhaka in 1985.
- Members:
- The Headquarters and Secretariat of the Association are in Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
- Afghanistan joined SAARC in 2007.
- Aim:
- Promoting the welfare of the people
- Accelerating economic growth, and social progress
- Culture development
- Strengthening collective self-reliance.
- The organisation also seeks to contribute to mutual trust and understanding among the member countries. Other objectives include strengthening cooperation with other developing countries and cooperating with international and regional organisations with similar aims and purposes.
- Significance for India:
- Neighbourhood first: A great platform to achieve the goals of giving primacy to the country’s immediate neighbours.
- Geostrategic significance: Can counter China (OBOR initiative) by engaging Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives and Sri Lanka in development process and economic cooperation.
- Regional stability: SAARC can help in the creation of mutual trust and peace within the region.
- Global leadership role: It offers India a platform to showcase its leadership in the region by taking up extra responsibilities.
- Issues:
- No tangible economic or political benefits have been realised by SAARC, with analysts terming its performance as a case of ‘retarded regionalism’.
- While the organisation was intended to enhance regional cooperation in South Asia, from its very inception, member countries treated it with suspicion and mistrust. In the 30-plus years of its history, annual SAARC summits have been postponed more than ten times for political reasons.
- SAARC faced a when its Summit of 2016, which was to be held in Pakistan, was suspended for an indefinite period. India boycotted it, citing Pakistan’s sponsored terror attack in Uri. Bangladesh and Afghanistan boycotted it saying Pakistan was interfering in their internal affairs. SAARC summit is yet to happen after this suspension.
- SAARC does not have any arrangement for resolving disputes or mediating conflicts. The SAARC Charter does not allow contentious bilateral issues to be deliberated at SAARC.
- Member countries still have pending border or water-sharing issues. India – Pakistan border, India has border issues with Nepal also, India and Bangladesh have not yet finalised the Teesta river conundrum.
- The imperious role played by China in South Asia.
- Even after three decades of existence, intra-regional trade within SAARC is less than 5% of total trade.
BIMSTEC:
- Background:
- In 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 in December 1997 during a special Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, 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 become full members. In 2004, in the first Summit the grouping was renamed as BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.
- Out of the 7 members. Five are from South Asia – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Two are from Southeast Asia – Myanmar and Thailand.
- Objective:
- Creating an enabling environment for the rapid economic development of the sub-region.
- Encouraging the spirit of equality and partnership.
- Promoting active collaboration and mutual assistance in the areas of common interests of the member countries
- Accelerating support for each other in the fields of education, science, and technology, etc.
- Principles of BIMSTEC:
- Sovereign Equality
- Territorial Integrity
- Political Independence
- No-interference in Internal Affairs
- Peaceful Co- existence
- Mutual Benefit
- Constitute an addition to bilateral, regional or multilateral cooperation involving the Member States.
- Strategic Shift from SAARC to BIMSTEC:
- PM of India had invited SAARC countries for his swearing in ceremony in 2014, including Pakistan on the lines of his Neighbourhood first policy.
- Prime Minister had also participated in the 18th SAARC summit at Kathmandu in November 2014.
- After the URI attack in October 2016, India boycotted the SAARC summit which was supposed to be held in Islamabad. As a result, SAARC summit was postponed for an indefinite period.
- Since 2016 there has been no movement forward on resuming the SAARC summit.
- India gave a renewed push for the BIMSTEC that had existed for almost two decades but been largely ignored.
- Alongside the 2016 BRICS summit in Goa, PM hosted an outreach summit with BIMSTEC leaders.
- In 2019, Narendra Modi invited BIMSTEC partners for his second swearing in ceremony, reversing the previous stand of inviting the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) leaders including Pakistan for a similar event in 2014.
- Challenges:
- Since most of the members of BIMSTEC are either members of SAARC or ASEAN, it did not get much momentum earlier. In over two decades of existence, BIMSTEC has achieved very little.
- Inconsistency in Meetings
- Lack of critical support
- Connectivity
- Neglect by member states
- Regional Issues between Member Nations
- Underlying aspirations of China to be a dominant country in South Asian and South East Asian politics.
Pic Courtesy: The Hindu
Content Source: The Hindu