Conflict Management and Sub-Regional Co-operation in ASEAN: Relevance for SAARC

This comparative volume studies how Southeast Asia’s conflict management habits and subregional cooperation mechanisms can inform South Asia’s search for stability and shared prosperity. It traces ASEAN’s evolution from elite diplomacy to problem-solving platforms, examining norms (non-interference, consensus), institutions (secretariat, ministerial bodies), and minilateral arrangements (GMS, BIMP-EAGA) that enabled incremental trust-building. The authors analyze practical instruments: hotlines, incident-at-sea rules, joint patrols, trade facilitation measures, and public health coordination—showing how technical collaboration created space for political accommodation. Mapping these lessons onto South Asia, the book dissects SAARC’s design constraints, trust deficits and political economy of vetoes, arguing for subregional groupings that can move faster on transport, power trade, disaster response and standards. Case chapters propose pilots—multimodal corridors across the eastern subregion, coordinated customs, and shared river information—that would deliver visible benefits and reduce crisis risk. The argument is pragmatic: start with doable, measured tasks and let performance generate legitimacy.