CAN REGIONAL ENERGY COOPERATION IN SOUTH ASIA BE ENHANCED?

This article addresses the critical question of whether regional energy cooperation in South Asia can be enhanced. It provides a detailed analysis of the compelling economic and environmental logic for such cooperation. The study examines the significant complementarities in the energy endowments of the region's countries, such as the vast hydropower potential in Nepal and Bhutan and the large and growing energy markets in India and Bangladesh. The research explores the potential for cross-border electricity trade, the development of regional power grids, and joint investment in energy infrastructure projects. However, the paper also provides a sober assessment of the immense political and institutional barriers that have, to date, prevented this potential from being realized. These include the deep-seated political mistrust between countries and the lack of a robust regional institutional framework for energy cooperation. The analysis concludes that while the economic case is overwhelming, enhancing energy cooperation is fundamentally a political challenge that requires a new level of trust and vision from the region's leaders.

South Asia is a region characterized by a severe and growing energy deficit, yet it has so far failed to harness the immense potential of regional energy cooperation. This paper asks the crucial question: can this be changed? The first part of the study is a detailed exposition of the powerful economic and technical case for cooperation. It maps out the region's energy resources, highlighting the massive, untapped hydropower potential in the Himalayas and the significant natural gas reserves in some countries. It then demonstrates how a regional power grid and cross-border electricity trade could create a more efficient and reliable energy system for the entire subcontinent, lowering costs and enhancing energy security for all. The core of the article, however, is a critical analysis of the formidable political barriers that have stymied progress. The paper argues that energy projects, particularly those involving large-scale infrastructure and transboundary resources, are seen through a prism of national security and zero-sum thinking, especially in the context of the India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh relationships. It discusses how issues of transit rights and project ownership have become deeply politicized, preventing technically and economically viable projects from moving forward. The findings lead to a clear conclusion: the barriers to energy cooperation are not technical or economic, but political. The paper concludes with a call for a paradigm shift, urging the leaders of South Asia to recognize that energy security is a shared problem that can only be solved through a cooperative, regional approach, and that the long-term economic benefits of cooperation far outweigh the perceived political risks.