Falling short

The 18th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) mercifully came to a close last week. As is the case with each SAARC summit, the actual event failed to produce anything of significant value besides the promise of a pan-South Asian energy deal. The deal itself is commendable and strives to bring neighbouring countries closer together through the platform of energy cooperation, but materialising it into actual policy is going to be easier said than done. Apart from the deal, the summit was chockfull of tried and tested rhetoric from everyone, with the sporadic sprinkle of passive-aggressive idiosyncrasies, courtesy the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers.
But why is it that SAARC has fallen short of its potential on almost every front? Combined together, the eight member states account for the third largest economy in the world, and the strategic significance of the region in current times is also evident to all and sundry. So why is it that despite having multitudes of resources, both human and otherwise, SAARC countries do not amount to much? The issues that plague SAARC are plentiful and their solutions are not too forthcoming either. But let us at least begin to analyse the maladies that ail this creature.
Firstly, SAARC’s regional impact has always been limited because powerful countries like India have not given it much attention. The tight-knit economic, social and cultural unity of the European Union — howsoever synthetic — is the zenith that any regional union can hope to achieve in contemporary times. The EU, with its intricate bevy of legislation and cooperation agreements, was salvaged from the remains of Europe after the Second World War. More importantly, the Union was the brainchild of two nation states that had featured heavily in the conflict, and consequently wanted to purge their collective memories of the horrors. Germany and France took the Union under their wing and soon others joined in. The fact that the horrifying legacy of the world wars lives on in European memory through everyday experience also brought the countries closer together. Closer to home, another strong regional organisation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also had support from the very start of some strong states like Indonesia. In comparison, SAARC falls flat when it comes to harmony and even a symbolic sense of unity. If the Europeans gripe about too much of the EU, then we can surely complain about there being too little of SAARC.
This sense of a disjointed union is partly because SAARC owes its inception to Bengali and Nepali leaders who, being at the helm of comparatively weaker states, were more concerned about safeguarding national interests in a region filled with powerful states than anything else. In addition, since its inception in 1985, SAARC has always been a rather dull corollary to the otherwise eventful national environments of the member states. Moreover, almost all of the eight member states have or are still facing chronic political instability, which explains why members have been so wary of handing over any sort of significant decision making power to the organisation, thus adding to its frail mandate.
Secondly, the enmity between Pakistan and India looms large in every SAARC summit; it seems that the potential of SAARC can only be unleashed once the doves have flown across the Line of Control. This hostility has its roots in the Kashmir dispute but, in recent times, Pakistan’s allegedly soft stance on domestic militancy has also been a point of contention, especially since the 2008 attacks in Mumbai. India insists that Pakistan clamp down hard on the militant outfits within its territories that have purportedly inflicted damage on Indian soil. Pakistan retorts that it too has suffered at the hands of the terrorists and that everything possible is being done. The arguments just end up preaching to the choir and, in such an environment, when formal contact between the two countries breaks down all too frequently, SAARC could have proved to be an important platform to engage in dialogue without conceding too much to the hawkish elements that Pakistan and India have aplenty.
However, because of self-serving alliances with other states and sometimes even plain arrogance, both countries have repeatedly failed to see SAARC’s significance as a common medium and do not put any faith in its summits. Even this time around, Prime Ministers Nawaz and Modi left no stone unturned in delivering a humdrum routine and gave each other the cold shoulder until it was almost time to say goodbye. Both countries had made it clear that there would be no side talks during the summit but, at the very end, when all hope was seemingly lost, both leaders miraculously found each other’s hand with all the flair of destined valentines and smiled just long enough for the cameras to go berserk. The handshake itself was apparently impromptu, but if you factor in the number of sleep hours lost by diplomats frantically trying to make it happen, it was anything but.
But perhaps there is another reason why India and Pakistan have failed to make headway at SAARC summits. Come to think of it, both countries are severely security-oriented with powerful armies ready to defend their respective turfs. Unlike India, Pakistan also has the added civil-military imbalance to contend with. And it is no secret that the bilateral policy towards India is a function of the political as well as the martial. So probably the real reason why Pak-India affairs do not get resolved at the SAARC table is because the real stakeholders are not even present. Yes, Sharif might be the elected prime minister but is he the one who has the final say on India?
Keeping all this in mind, there is still a long way to go before India and Pakistan can learn to trust each other over critical issues like terrorism and militancy, thus essentially incapacitating SAARC from making progress on any front. The presence of a strong economic and political giant like India understandably makes the rest of the members cautious and with the next SAARC summit set to be held in Pakistan in a couple of years, it is high time that we take ownership and prepare SAARC to face the onset of transnational challenges like climate change, renewable energy and food shortages. That kind of resolve can only come through ownership and joint commitment by the member states. Until that happens, SAARC will be nothing more than a venue for gauche pirouetting.

The author is a freelance columnist with degrees in political science and international relations