It may be too early to organise a requiem for SAARC, but the region's future lies beyond its vacuous flag-waving.The future of the Subcontinent cannot be a state project.
It may be too early to organise a requiem for SAARC, but the region's future lies beyond its vacuous flag-waving.The future of the Subcontinent cannot be a state project.
The latest saarc summit concluded in Colombo on 31 July in the wake of the India-Pakistan nuclear tests – without discussing the tests. The "heads of state or government" gave their wordy speeches, but nobody was listening. This was definitely the most dismal summit in the organisation´s tortuous 13-year history, notwithstanding the balmy breeze on Bentota beach.
By living the lie of soppy multilateralism and ignoring the immediacy of bilateral rivalries and conflicts in the Subcontinent – in particular between New Delhi and Islamabad – saarc had confirmed its reputation as an organisation long on words and short on deeds. After years of unrequited hope, the realisation was now complete that little else can be expected from an organisation that revolves entirely around the need-to-pontificate of prime ministers and presidents.