15th SAARC SUMMIT: SAFTA, FOOD SECURITY AND ENERGY

Focusing on the 15th SAARC Summit, this article examines how leaders framed regional responses to food insecurity, energy shortages and slow progress under SAFTA. It recounts commitments on seed banks, food reserves and early-warning networks, and reviews proposals for regional energy cooperation including cross-border power trade and pipeline concepts. The analysis interrogates why tariff concessions under SAFTA were undercut by sensitive lists and non-tariff barriers, and how customs modernisation, standards equivalence and transit protocols could unlock flows. The paper argues that summit communiqués must be paired with measurable delivery—time-bound reduction of exemptions, pilot power-exchange corridors and an agriculture data platform. It concludes that credible implementation mechanisms and private-sector participation are essential to convert political signalling into outcomes citizens can feel.

The article’s body begins with the macro context: commodity price spikes, hydrological variability and demand growth that exposed supply vulnerabilities. Section One dissects the food-security track—regional seed banks, emergency grain arrangements and the importance of interoperable sanitary and phytosanitary systems—suggesting procurement and stock rotation rules to avoid market distortion. Section Two maps the energy agenda: synchronising grids, wheeling frameworks, and transparent tariffs for cross-border power sales; it assesses governance models for power exchanges and the role of renewable integration. Section Three tackles SAFTA: pruning sensitive lists on a schedule, risk-based inspections, e-certificates of origin and authorised economic operator schemes to cut border frictions. Section Four proposes monitoring: a delivery dashboard, peer review of commitments and civil-society oversight to sustain momentum. The conclusion argues that the summit’s ambition will be judged by a handful of tangible projects that demonstrate trust and reduce costs for firms and households across South Asia.