SAARC: SHALLOW REGIONALISM, POLITICAL ABSTINENCE AND ECONOMIC ADVOCACY

This article provides a critical analysis of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), characterizing it as a case of "shallow regionalism." It argues that despite its existence for over a decade, SAARC has failed to achieve deep integration due to a deliberate policy of "political abstinence"—the exclusion of contentious bilateral and political issues from its official charter and agenda. The study posits that in the absence of political cooperation, SAARC's role has been largely confined to "economic advocacy," promoting the idea of regional trade and cooperation without being able to effectively address the underlying political barriers that prevent it. The research critiques this model, arguing that the unresolved political conflicts, particularly between India and Pakistan, constantly undermine and hold hostage any meaningful progress on the economic front. The analysis concludes that for SAARC to move from shallow to deep regionalism, it must find a way to overcome its political abstinence and begin to address the core security and political issues that divide the region.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has often been criticized for being one of the least effective regional organizations in the world. This paper provides a sharp analytical framework to explain this underperformance, characterizing SAARC by three key features: shallow regionalism, political abstinence, and economic advocacy. The study begins by defining "shallow regionalism" as a form of cooperation that is limited to non-controversial areas and lacks strong, supranational institutions. It then analyzes the principle of "political abstinence," enshrined in the SAARC charter's prohibition on discussing bilateral and contentious issues, as the primary cause of this shallowness. The paper argues that this principle, while necessary to get the organization off the ground, has become its greatest long-term weakness, as it prevents SAARC from addressing the very conflicts that are the main obstacles to cooperation. In the absence of a political role, the paper contends, SAARC has been relegated to a role of "economic advocacy." It has been successful in creating forums for discussion and in producing studies on the benefits of trade, but it has lacked the political authority to implement its own recommendations effectively. The findings lead to a stark conclusion: the SAARC model is fundamentally flawed. The paper argues that the functionalist hope that economic cooperation would spill over into the political sphere has been proven wrong in South Asia. Instead, it concludes that a reversal of this logic is needed: a degree of political and security cooperation is the necessary precondition for any deep and sustainable economic integration in the region.