Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who assumes the SAARC chair in April, has spoken of the importance of assessing Southasian regional cooperation "in the larger Asian context". The implications here are twofold. First, Southasians must critically assess our own achievements within SAARC, measured against those of other Asian regional groups. Second, SAARC needs to engage more actively with such groups for wider mutual benefit.
The prime minister's message this past December on the 21st anniversary of SAARC's founding spoke of opportunities to "re-claim our legacy of interconnectedness to restore the natural exchange of goods, people and ideas that have characterised our shared Southasian space." Clearly the objective envisaged was not to install the type of central control or conformity over the region as was imposed in colonial times, but rather to enhance connectivity within Southasia in various areas where such links have been obscured and obstructed – the reasons for which have been identified, but perhaps not adequately addressed.
At various times during SAARC's adolescent years, bilateral political issues, as well as economic disparities and different approaches to development, acted as constraints to collective action. At the 14th Summit in New Delhi on 3-4 April, both the larger Asian context as well as the complex mosaic of bilateral relations within the region will have an impact on the extent of collective success that can be achieved.
In realistic terms, contentious bilateral issues cannot be ignored, as national interests, real as well as perceived, have obvious direct political impact at domestic levels for governments. Happily, however, in the current Southasian context such issues are being dealt with pragmatically – being at least managed, if not settled. At any rate, they are not currently posited as obstacles to discussing issues of a regional nature, nor are they holding up SAARC summits. The meeting of the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan, for example, which concluded on 14 March in Islamabad, was described as "fruitful and positive", "a watershed" for Indo-Pakistani relations. In the past, faltering Indo-Sri Lankan dealings, for instance, have indeed caused complications for summits and led to their delay. The 6th Summit in Colombo was a single-day meet, although it did eventually establish comfort levels in the relationship between the two countries, as well as reaching a major decision on establishing the Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation.