South Asian Association forRegional Cooperation (SAARC): Prospects for Development
Dwarika Dhungel

The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) has completed two decades of its existence. The heads of states or governments of its member countries, viz. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, once again would meet in Dhaka and reaffirm their faith in the organisation and its charter. Considering the political reality within the individual SAARC nations, and especially the relationship between the two biggest members of the association, one could feel satisfied that the association has survived so far. But its movement in terms of achieving the objectives for which it was formed has been slow and it is criticised as a house of cards or a house built on sand, which can fall apart any time. There is a big stress in the interrelationship between neighbours.
Founded with the objectives, among others things, of promoting the welfare of the peoples of south Asia and improving their quality of life; promoting active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields; and strengthening cooperation among themselves (member countries) on matters of common interests, the association has identified a number of areas of cooperation among its member nations to achieve these objectives.
The areas identified for cooperation among the member nations are: agriculture and rural development; health and population; women, youth and children; environment and forestry; science and technology; and metrology, transport and human resource development. In addition, working groups have been established in the areas of information and communication technology and biotechnology, intellectual property rights, tourism and energy.
Under the auspices of the association, various regional centres covering agriculture, tuberculosis, documentation, meteorological research and human resource development are working from different SAARC capitals. In addition, three new regional centres covering culture, coastal zone management and information are being established. …..