Overcoming The SAARC Impasse

This sapien is aware that his line of argument in this piece may seem laughable—at its worst, it may even set the cat among the pigeons—or both. So be it.  As the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation turns 40, several intellectuals in Nepal are busy calling for the revival of the regional bloc—originally consisting of Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka— established in Dhaka on December 8, 1985 with the main (lofty) goal of “Promoting peace, stability, amity and progress in South Asia” for the welfare of the peoples of the region. 

If their sacred mantra-like words were to indeed revive the eight-member-strong bloc (after the inclusion of Afghanistan in 2007) in this day and age of another geopolitical flux that is sure to affect us despite our Himalayan isolation that provides a certain regional power a much-enviable leeway, how nice it would be! The revival, which appears unlikely in the foreseeable future, given (primarily) a perpetual state of enmity between the two powerful members, would indeed mark a triumph for our diplomacy as a founding member of the bloc headquartered in Kathmandu and of the Non-Aligned Movement. 

Art of the impossible 

So, yours truly requests the readers not to take the Nepali version of the art of the impossible and the artisans conducting it lightly, as they have moved the mountains in the past—bear in mind that this scribbler has called the revival of the regional bloc ‘unlikely’, not impossible. However, as detailing their parakram (a feat no less) would be a voluminous exercise requiring reams of paper, which would cause clearing of large tracts of the rainforest, yours truly chooses not to do it and increase our carbon footprint in this day and age of climate change. 

As scholars of repute have already written extensively about and spoken profusely about it in very many national, regional and global fora (thereby contributing to sound pollution in a world already grappling with the crisis of cacophony), the duplication of labour is unwarranted.   Anyways, impossible is nothing in a state that can almost collapse within 48 hours of an unorganized, youth-led protest, right? Scary, isn’t it? Not exactly for a very brave people! 

At this point in time, it would perhaps be more contextual to revisit the successes and setbacks of the regional body with a bit of nostalgia in this era of harsher geopolitical realities.  In the 1980s, regionalism was an in-thing and seven heads of state and government from South Asia, a subcontinent reeling under poverty and political violence, signed the charter of the SAARC in Dhaka on December 8, 1985, outlining the promotion of peace, stability, amity and progress in South Asia” for the welfare of the peoples of the region as the main goal. 

The seven member-states of the regional bloc reached eight agreements, including the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), six conventions, including on Suppression of Terrorism and its additional protocol. One may add to it the summits of the bloc, that is, most probably, past its mid-life crisis, given a life expectancy of around 71 years for the region it represents.  The thinking heads of the bloc have had no dearth of excellent ideas, as the regional food bank, regional development fund, the regional seed bank and a pan-South Asian university show. Still, the fact that these ventures still remain pretty much in their infancy shows that we as a region are more of a talker than a doer. 

Geopolitical games 

While strolling around at a chess park in Kathmandu, this sapien has a traffic jam in his mind as he sees a deft player arrange his kills in that apple-pie order—the knight, the bishop, the rook and then the queen—even as geopolitics gets choppier by the minute. In five minutes or so, the ‘serial killer’ wins. A measly score for the grandiose body in the midst of geopolitical great games makes this South Asian a tad too sad, so he dares add that altogether 18 summits of the bloc have already taken place, which, again, is no mean feat, given, primarily, the hostilities between the two arch rivals. 

While this sapien has immense faith in our well-oiled diplomatic machinery and the mandarins in charge, he wonders, with all humility, if invoking our deities—both based close to the SAARC HQ and afar—through our unique, time-tested Tantrik rituals can bring back a comatose SAARC back to life and make up for the lost years. Our mandarins, known the world over for their diplomatic finesse, need not worry if this works, for it will still be their victory—and the victory of the Nepali strain of the art of the impossible.

(The author is a freelancer.)