Trade blocs are often instruments of geopolitics. India’s cooperation with the South Asian nations east of Pakistan plays witness to this age-old truism.
The escalating India-China rivalry in the region is increasingly dwarfing all other issues regarding the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
The Indian subcontinent is chequered with a history of border disputes and issues regarding transnational ethnic and religious groups.
Heightened tensions between India and Pakistan threaten to add the upcoming SAARC Summit to the long list of failed attempts at cooperation in South Asia.
Self-inflicted wounds – which come in the form of poor domestic governance, decrepit infrastructure, a hostile business climate, and the absence of a unified national market – continue to hobble India’s ambitions in Asia and on the larger world stage.
Before Narendra Modi became the prime minister of India, some observers in China believed that he could well be “the Deng Xiaoping of India,” comparing him with the Chinese leader who led the economic reform that has transformed China to a global power from a Third World country.
Evicted from Bhutan at the age of 11, Vidhyapati Mishra spent two decades in U.N.-funded Bhutanese refugee camp in eastern Nepal before resettling in the United States. Just a week before his departure from Nepal to Charlotte of North Carolina, self-learned journalist Mishra also featured in the New York Times with his powerful narrative story […]
Part 1 – Many Barrels of a Gun South Asia is often described as the most dangerous place on earth and the most promising emerging market – both in the same breath. The year 2011 illustrated in ample measure the implausible irony. The biggest international story of the year, according to The Associated Press’ annual […]
South Asia is seen as a geo-strategic, geo-economic unit by some and a single civilizational whole by others. The program of regional cooperation was expected to benefit immensely from the historical and cultural ties connecting people across national borders in South Asia. Such assessments created positive possibilities regarding cooperation in the region. Despite differences over […]
The 16th Summit was Bhutan’s first opportunity to host a SAARC Summit. The Summit was attended by eight Heads of States from South Asia on April 28-29. The theme of the Summit was to promote a ‘Green and Happy South Asia’. Following are some important decisions highlighted in the Summit Declaration. The leaders sought to […]
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional grouping comprising of eight states- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka. Nine Countries – Australia, China, European Union, Iran, Japan, Myanmar, Mauritius, South Korea and U.S. – hold Observer status. 25 years ago in 1985, SAARC was initiated with the dream […]
Two day SAARC Summit to begin on April 28 in Bhutan. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s (SAARC) 16th Summit will be held in Thimphu, Bhutan on April 28-29. The theme of this year’s summit is ‘Conservation of Environment and Climate.’ Leaders from the eight member countries in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, […]
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