Background of SAARC. MUTTAKI BILLAH (BANGLADESH)

1. KULLIYYAH OF ISLAMIC REVEALED KNOWLEDGE AND HUMAN SCIENCES
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION: A
STUDY ON THE SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION
FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION (SAARC)
Course title and code: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (PSCI2750, Sec2)
Name and Matric number: Muttaki Billah 1533481.
Name of instructor: TUNKU MOHAR B TUNKU MOHD MOKHTAR.
Topic: International Organization: A Study on The South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
Assignment number: 1
Due date: 04/07/2020
Date submission: 04/07/2020

2. 1
Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..1
Background on SAARC: .............................................................................................................. 3
Establishment of SAARC:............................................................................................................ 3
Aims and Objectives of SAARC:................................................................................................. 4
Education Development in SAARC: ........................................................................................... 6
Centralised and Controlled management:.................................................................................. 7
No support for Inclusive Education: ........................................................................................... 7
Economic Trade and Finance:..................................................................................................... 8
Constraining Factors in The Development of SAARC: .......................................................... 10
Inter-state Disputes amongst Member States:......................................................................... 10
Indian Domination:..................................................................................................................... 10
Conclusion: .................................................................................................................................. 12
References:............................................................................................................................... 13

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Introduction:
The Association for Regional Cooperation of South Asia (SAARC) comprises the seven countries
of South Asia Bangladesh, The Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and. It's an
association n the understanding that in an increasingly autonomous world, the aims of peace,
liberty and society.
Economic prosperity and justice are best achieved in The South Asian region fosters
mutual understanding, good neighborly ties and substantive cooperation between the bound
Member States by historical and cultural relations. South Asia 's concept of international
cooperation
Originally mooted in November 1980. Foreign Secretaries of seven countries following
consultations. First gathered at Colombo in April 1981.A few months later this was followed by a
meeting of the Whole Committee which established five specific areas for regional cooperation.
The Foreign ministers, at their first New Delhi meeting declaration on the South adopted in August
1983 Asian and Formal Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Integrated Program of Action (IPA)
introduced.
To begin with, in five areas of cooperation agreed, namely, Agriculture; emerging rural areas;
telecommunications; meteorology; and health and population. Cooperation between science and
technology; sports, the arts. And Culture was also applied to the IPA. The Heads of State at their
First.
SAARC Summit held from 7-8 December in Dhaka in 1985 the Charter formally adopted the
Association for Regional Cooperation in South Asia (THE SARC).

4. 3
Analysis:
Background on SAARC:
The regional organization South Asian Association for Reginal Cooperation (SAARC)
started as an idea since 1980 by Ziaur Al-Rahaman the president of Bangladesh at that time.
SAARC took so much time to be established due to the unstable situation after the colonial period,
ethnic and religious differences, and many more. Recently, The South Asian region was known as
Indian Sub-continent because India was the dominant power and it’s the biggest country at the
region. As results, establishing a regional organization was important especially to the small
countries to protect their individual identity. Ziaur Al-Rahman sent formal letters to all South
Asian countries; it was named as Bangladesh Working paper a proposal of forming regional
organization. In 1981, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sir Lanka send
their Foreign Secretaries to a meeting in Colombo for the first time. they identified areas for the
regional cooperation and they adopted the proposed charter of social and economic promotion, as
well as cultural developments in the South Asian region. In addition, they want to strengthen
relationship and cooperation with other developing countries. Hence, the South Asian countries
agreed to collaborate and unite to develop the region.
Establishment of SAARC:
According to Raza Khan, (2015) In 1985, after five years from the initial idea of the
regional organization, SAARC was formally established with signing of the SAARC charter by
the 7 founding members. They met in a summit at Bangladesh, Dhaka, they declare the importance
of cooperation, friendship, trust and mutual understanding in the region. 8th December 1985 was
the establishment date of SAARC and the declaration at Dhaka summit was named as Dhaka
Declaration. SAARC headquarter was based in Kathmandu, Nepal. In 2007, Afghanistan joined
the regional association and completed its members that remained until now. In short, the signing
of SAARC charter and declaration strengthen the bond among South Asian countries and
decreased the disputes in the region.1
1 Khan, Ahmad Raza. "Impediments to the Success of SAARC." South Asian Studies 30, no. 1 (2015): 292.

5. 4
Principles of SAARC:
As to any organization in order to succeed they need clear principles to maintain the
cooperation among the SAARC countries. Based on the SAARC website2 principles are about
firstly, the framework of the SAARC must be based on respect sovereign equality, territorial
integrity and political independence, also non-interference in the internal affairs of other states and
mutual benefits. In South Asian region there are states big and small states, equal sovereignty is
necessary to achieve peace and security. Stop intervention into other states business helps to stop
dominance power over one another. Secondly, cooperation among Member states is complement
and not to substitute bilateral or multilateral cooperation. Which means states encouraged to
cooperate among each other must of the time. Thirdly cooperation should be consistent with
bilateral and multilateral adherence of Member States. Fourthly, Decisions at all levels in SAARC
shall be taken on the basis of unanimity. Lastly, bilateral and contentious issues shall be excluded
from the discussion of the Association. Hence, the principles of SAARC are to minimize the
problems and prevent conflicts in the region.3
Aims and Objectives of SAARC:
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) During the adoption and
agreement of the formation of this organization by the founding members which are Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka they have set clear aims and objectives
that are to be achieved by the member states of the organization. Their main goal was the
promotion of economic and social progress, cultural development within the South Asia region
and also for friendship and co-operation with other developing countries; and It is dedicated to
economic, technological, social and cultural development emphasising collective self- reliance
(K.K Ghai,) The objective of the organization can be viewed through their official website and its
they are as follows:
The objectives of the Association as outlined in the SAARC Charter are: to promote the
welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life; to accelerate economic
growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the
2 (SAARC) South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, SAARC Charter, http://saarc-sec.org/saarc-charter
3 http://www.saarc-sec.org/SAARC-Charter/5/

6. 5
opportunity to live in dignity and to realize their full potentials; to promote and strengthen
collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia; to contribute to mutual trust,
understanding and appreciation of one another's problems; to promote active collaboration and
mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields; to strengthen
cooperation with other developing countries; to strengthen cooperation among themselves in
international forums on matters of common interests; and to cooperate with international and
regional organizations with similar aims and purposes.4 Its charter being the main guidance of the
cooperation is stated in 8 objectives, that being.
1. Desirous of promoting peace, stability, amity and progress in the region through strict
adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter and Non-Alignment, particularly
respect for the principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, national independence,
non-use of force and non-interference in the internal affairs of other States and peaceful
settlement of all disputes;
2. Conscious that in an increasingly interdependent world, the objectives of peace, freedom,
social justice and economic prosperity are best achieved in the South Asian region by
fostering mutual understanding, good neighbourly relations and meaningful cooperation
among the Member States which are bound by ties of history and culture;
3. Aware of the common problems, interests and aspirations of the people of South Asia and
the need for joint action and enhanced cooperation within their respective political and
economic systems and cultural traditions;
4. Convinced that regional cooperation among the countries of South Asia is mutually
beneficial, desirable and necessary for promoting the welfare and improving the quality of
life of the peoples of the region;
5. Convinced further that economic, social and technical cooperation among the countries of
South Asia would contribute significantly to national and collective self- reliance;
6. Recognizing that increased cooperation, contacts and exchanges among the countries of
the region will contribute to the promotion of friendship and understanding among their
peoples;
4 http://saarc-sec.org/about-saarc

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7. Recalling the declaration signed by their Foreign Ministers in New Delhi on August 2,
1983 and noting the progress achieved in regional cooperation;
8. Reaffirming their determination to promote such cooperation within an institutional
framework (SAARC CHARTER)5
These aims and objectives seem to be very optimistic, however such implementation within an
organization of this caliber could make it harder said than done. The members of this organization
differ in many ways. From population, size, culture, desires and many other factors, all these
countries have their own interests. Hence, the agendas on the various countries might differ from
one to another. Therefore, the creation of this organization within the scope of the members was
initially a good idea in ensuring the stability of the region and their goals to achieve success
collectively, however the dynamic of the organization made this problematic and will be discussed
further in this research.
Education Development in SAARC:
Under its education development, SAARC aims to promote Inclusive Education under the policy
of Education to All (ETA) introduced by the United Nation. This idea is to cater all people in
SAARC countries,with different background and diversity to have an equal access to the
education. This policy targeted poor background children and also children with different
disabilities and impaired. South Asia countries like, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh,
India,Maldive and others have suffered from major difficulties of limited access and poor
education quality. These countries have shown low student enrolment, high level of dropouts and
class repitition. 5out of 8 countries in SAARC has undertaken IE- related policy and iplement it in
their respective country. For example, Afghaistan under National Education Strategic Plan II
(NESP II), “introduced a declaration on inclusive and child-friendly education targeting the
provision of equal quality of education and equal access to education for all children, without
discrimination, in both urban and rural areas.”6
5 http://www.saarc-sec.org/SAARC-Charter/5/
6 Zhang, Hongzhi, Philip Wing Keung Chan, and Christopher Boyle, eds. Equality in education: Fairness and
inclusion. Springer, 2014.

8. 7
Centralized and Controlled management:
Inclusive Education (IE) is hard to be achieved in the SAARC due to centralised management and
no support for its reform. Initially, educational policies in SAARC countries is centralised directly
under the government without any involvement of the teachers and other members of the school
community. In order to do changes, teachers and other members of the school community have to
undergo the approval of the government. Apparent centralised and controlled management by the
government has limited the power of school community to bring reformation and implementation
IE. In addition, this situation even stopped the effort of the teachers in initiating changes that
support reform activities because the body does not wish to go against the government.
This problem has however improved after 1990’s where more involvement of teacher and
other school community appeared to be there in order to promote IE as one of the components in
right of education. For example, in Bangladesh, IE reform strategy is known as School Level
Improvement Plan (SLIP) which was first introduced in 2007. There are several aims laid under
this policy. First of all, it ensures active involvement of member of the school community. Second,
under this policy, the member of school community is given power to take policy decision at the
school level. Next main goal of this policy also acts as a function of voice for teachers, students,
and parents. As a result, to this, an evaluation conducted in 2010 showed the grants provided under
the program has helped schools to “plan and implement some improvement in their physical
environment and move toward creating a welcoming learning environment for children”. Other
than that, through this policy, school community had successfully shown significant engagement
in school management. For example, they have done improvement on basic necessities and
facilities in the respective school in order to ensure conducive environment for the children.
No support for Inclusive Education:
Inclusion Education include the right of disable students to get into the education as well. Another
major problem in implementing the Inclusive Education is due to lack of awareness and support
for this idea. The negative attitudes of student peers, classroom teachers and the parents of children
with both with and without disabilities affect the inclusion of disabled students into regular school.
Moreover, inadequate preparation of the pre-service teacher and school facilities also contribute
to this problem. For example, in India, the caste system is still being practice and harden the
process of Inclusive Education. Other than that, girls received a limited access to education as the

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religious construct, where girls meant to work only within home is still maintain as the barrier in
Pakistan. Successful implementation of inclusion requires that schools and educators are well
supported with human, instructional and physical resources. Here, the lack of facilities and
resources in school for disable students is the key problem for Inclusive Education in SAARC
countries.7
The South Asian Association Regional Cooperation countries are once under develop in
term of their technology compared to the west countries. For example, there is inadequate proper
blackboard and special equipment such as braille for impaired students that are really needed to
address diversity in Inclusive Education. However, such problem is aid with the policy such as
SLIP that was mentioned earlier, where more involvement of school community in prevent this
unfortunate situation keep on happening. The grants that provided by the government to school
management community has been used wisely and efficiently in order to maintain the
inclusiveness in education. Other example like India, they has initiated a program including Sarva
Shiksha Ahbiyaan (SSA), the Right to Education Bill 2005, the Action Plan for Inclusion to
Education of Children and Youth with Disabilites and many more just to celebrate diversity in the
education sectors.
Economic Trade and Finance:8
One of the main aims that SAARC was established for is to promote socio-economic
development, stability, and welfare economics, and collective self-reliance within its member
nations. In addition, South Asia is home to a population of 1.28 billion, accounts for almost 22%
of the world’s population, but only 1.8% of the world’s GDP, and about 1% of world trade. It has
been among the less rapidly growing regions of the world accounting for about 40% of the total
world population living in poverty. The reason in part could be attributed to the inward looking
policies pursued by the governments in these economies, the overt dominance of the state in almost
all spheres of economic activity, and the singular lack of emphasis on human and social
development. The 1990s saw a change in the economic front, with all countries in the region
embarking on comprehensive programs of stabilisation and structural reforms the cornerstone of
7 Mullick, Jahirul, Masud Ahmmed, and Umesh Sharma. "Prospects and challenges in implementing inclusive
education reform in SAARC countries." In Equality in Education, pp. 95-105. Brill Sense, 2014.
8 Raghavan, S. N. Regional economic cooperation among SAARC countries. Allied Publishers, 1995.

10. 9
such efforts being the liberalisation of trade and industrial regimes. So, they agreed to several
programs and agreements such as South Asian Free Trade Area ( SAFTA ) and South Asia
Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC). SAFTA was envisaged primarily as the first step
towards the transition to a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) leading subsequently towards a
Customs Union, Common Market and the Economic Union. In 1995, Sixteenth session of the
Council of Ministers (New Delhi, 18–19 December 1995) agreed on the need to strive for the
realization of SAFTA and to this end, an Inter-Governmental Expert Group (IGEG) was set up in
1996 to identify the necessary steps for progressing to a free trade area. The Tenth SAARC Summit
(Colombo, 29–31 July 1998) decided to set up a Committee of Experts (COE) to draft a
comprehensive treaty framework for creating a free trade area within the region, taking into
consideration the asymmetries in development within the region and bearing in mind the need to
fix realistic and achievable targets. The SAFTA Agreement was signed on 6 January 2004 during
Twelfth SAARC Summit held in Islamabad, Pakistan. The Agreement entered into force on 1
January 2006, and the Trade Liberalization Programme commenced from 1 July 2006. Under this
agreement, SAARC members will bring their duties down to 20 percent by 2009. Following the
Agreement coming into force the SAFTA Ministerial Council (SMC) has been established
comprising the Commerce Ministers of the Member States. In 2012 the SAARC exports increased
substantially to $354.6 billion from $206.7 billion in 2009. Imports too increased from $330 billion
to $602 billion over the same period. But the intra-SAARC trade amounts to just a little over 1%
of SAARC's GDP. In contrast to SAARC, in ASEAN (which is actually smaller than SAARC in
terms of the size of the economy) the intra-bloc trade stands at 10% of its GDP. SAFTA was
envisaged to gradually move towards the South Asian Economic Union, but the current intra-
regional trade and investment relation are not encouraging and it may be difficult to achieve this
target. The SAARC intra-regional trade stands at just five percent on the share of intra-regional
trade in overall trade in South Asia. Similarly, foreign direct investment is also dismal. The intra-
regional FDI flow stands at around four percent of the total foreign investment. Additionally, The
South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Program, set up in 2001, brings together
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in a project-based
partnership to promote regional prosperity by improving cross-border connectivity, boosting trade
among member countries, and strengthening regional economic cooperation. As of October 2018,
SASEC countries have implemented 50 regional projects worth over $11 billion in the energy,

11. 10
transport, trade facilitation, economic corridor development, and information and communications
technology (ICT) sectors. The Manila, Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) serves
as the Secretariat for the SASEC member countries.
Constraining Factors in The Development of SAARC:
SAARC was established before almost 30 years. On the time of its establishment SAARC
is facing many problems which are not allowing South Asian cooperation to develop. Some of
these hurdles can be described as:
Inter-state Disputes amongst Member States:
One of the major constraining factors in the way of cooperation among the SAARC
members is the mistrust, mutual security perceptions and hostility. All the members of this
organization feel in one way or another threat to their political, economic and territorial stability
from the neighbouring countries. They are still entrapped in the historical conflicts of colonial past
and the disputed environment after the departure of Colonial Masters i.e. loss of property, lives,
identities and communal violence. There are always high risks that any time the efforts for
cooperation can suffer due to communal and terrorist threats.
Lack of Trust Among the Member States
There is also lack of trust among the member states of SAARC which does not auger well
for future development of this regional organization. They still live in the cobweb of history and
mutual rivalries and mistrust has caused them enormous damage already. The elites do not trust
each other mainly because of their nationalistic feelings, vested interests and inter-state disputes.
In the presence of such disputes, this regional organization cannot be hoped to be developed on
stable footing.9
Indian Domination:10
Until the beginning of the current century, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka were considered the countries that constitutes the region of South Asia.
According to Snedden (2016), The South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
9 Idrees, Muhammad, Manzoor Naazer, and Ashfaq Rehman. "The Conflicts and Conflict Management in
SAARC." Liberal Arts and Social Sciences International Journal (LASSIJ) 1, no. 2 (2017): 1-11.
10 Jain, Romi. "India and SAARC: An Analysis." Indian Journal of Asian Affairs 18, no. 2 (2005): 55-74.

12. 11
was founded with these seven states in 1985 in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. However, at the
annual summit of SAARC in 2007 held in New Delhi, Afghanistan, a landlocked, war-ravaged
country under foreign occupation located in the South-Central Asia became the eighth member of
the South Asian regional grouping. Due to its geo-strategic location between Central and South
Asia and the ancient history of human migration, Afghanistan has long been regarded by scholars
as a connector state. In their discussion on South Asia in the context of Regional Security Complex
Theory (RSCT), Buzan and Waever (2003) describe Afghanistan as the key to the boundary
between the South Asian and Middle Eastern RSCs. India and US were especially enthusiastic in
the inclusion of Afghanistan in the SAARC as part of their regional geo-political strategy.
Washington sought to obtain legitimacy of the US-installed Hamid Karzai government of Northern
Alliance. On the other hand, India was keen to cultivate strategic relationship with Afghanistan
once Pakistan-supported Taliban regime was ousted from power as a result of the US-led invasion
in 2001. In the aftermath of the fall of the Taliban, India moved quickly to ensure that it had
substantial influence in that country. After all, post-Soviet withdrawal, the South Asian pre-
eminent power has always been supportive of the Northern Alliance in their conflict against the
Taliban. Raghavan (2013) states that, ‘since the overthrow of Taliban regime in 2001, India has
sought to carve out a distinctive space for itself in Afghanistan’. India might have considered that
a friendly Afghan government is beneficial to encircle Pakistan, the arch-rival and only challenger
to the Indian domination in South Asia.
India is by far the largest, most populous and economically strongest nation in South Asia.
The nuclear regional giant with nearly 1.4 million active military personnel possesses arguably the
third largest army in the world. India’s position is also enhanced by a significant geo-strategic
advantage: India is at the centre of South Asia, with Indian land and maritime borders separating
all South Asian nations from each other, except for Afghanistan and Pakistan. This geo strategic
reality means that South Asia is essentially ‘India-locked’. Taking advantage of the above
demographic, economic, military and geo-strategic superiority, since 1947, India has succeeded in
dominating all the smaller states of the region.11
11 Shaheen, Irum. "South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC): Its Role, Hurdles and
Prospects." IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 15, no. 6 (2013): 01-09; and Asia’s largest armies, The
Statesman, April 25, 2018, https://www.thestatesman.com>world.

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Conclusion:
Overall, it may be said the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
as any organization has its pros and cons. The founding members have set up the aims, objectives
and good principles for better cooperation. SAARC improved South Asian region economically,
educationally and more. However, SAARC has problems in its members not as an organization in
general. Among the States members of SAARC have disputes, lack of trust and others. Which is
also the reason of the organization to be established. The disputes and relation problems are cause
difficulties and lack to the organization to grow and develop. Hence, in order to the South Asian
countries to develop their region is to put their disputes away and work cooperate in the
organization.

14. 13
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15. 14
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