South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation and India: Roles & Responsibilities 

Understanding Relations between SAARC and India


South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summits are held every year to ensure regional and strengthen economic relations with neighbouring countries. The summits were on hold since 2016 as India decided to boycott because of the Uri attack. But, in the light of recent events, India has shown greater interest to work collectively, keeping aside all the differences and giving lives of citizens more importance, in order to fight the war against the spread of the virus.

In this article, we will learn about India and its relations with SAARC in the present context and key objectives of the same.

What is SAARC?

The SAARC came into existence with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. The Secretariat of the SAARC was set up in Kathmandu on 17 January 1987. It is a regional and geopolitical organization.

saarc

SAARC Countries

During SAARC’s foundation, there were seven SAARC countries that are mainly located in South Asia, i.e. India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh Maldives, and Sri Lanka. In April 2007, at the SAARC’s 14th summit, Afghanistan became its eighth member. SAARC is a grouping modelled on the European Union that came into being in the mid1980s – but has little to show for itself by way of regional or economic integration.

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Aims and Objectives of SAARC

The primary goal of SAARC is to accelerate economic growth and social development in neighbouring countries. This is done with the help of joint agreement on areas of cooperation among various countries.

The SAARC region lies in the South Himalayas that are surrounded by Hindu Kush mountains. The SAARC region is a landmass of 3.3 % of the world and has one-fifth of the population. The present SAARC countries can be categorized into different groups.

  • Land-locked countries (3)– Bhutan, Nepal, and Afghanistan
  • Islands countries (2)– Sri Lanka and the Maldives
  • India, Pakistan and Bangladesh– these countries have the Indian Ocean in the South and Southwest and the Indo-Gigantic plains.

SAARC Economy and Indian Trade Relations

  • SAARC countries are the ones that mostly depend on agriculture. These are also the countries that have a lack of science, poor education and technology, and also suffer from over-population.
  •   Agriculture based economy is likely to persist and dominate in years to come for the SAARC countries. The economic development model revolves around the food for growing population, fodder for livestock, raw material and market for industries are likely to remain the main market goods.
  • Most of the SAARC countries depend on the developed countries for aid and trade. In this regard, the South Asian Free Trade Association (SAFTA) came into operation by January 1, 2006.
  • SAFTA aims to remove trade barriers, the establishment of a ministerial-level mechanism for administering the treaty, phased elimination of tariffs and dispute settlement among SAARC countries.
  • The exchange of mutual goods among the SAARC countries is more relevant, cheap, and cost-effective. This provides vast scope for mutual cooperation in various areas.

Overall, India’s contribution has been constructive. Though the efforts of India might seem less in the region, it has more to offer to the outside world. In the ongoing war against the covid-19 virus, India has been on the forefront as far as helping the neighbouring countries was the concern.

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