India’s Role in SAARC

Abstract

SAARC has come a long way since 1980 when the late president ZiaurRahman of Bangladesh first issued a formal call for regional co-operation, envisaging a meeting of heads of the State or Government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Srilanka. That the imperatives for such a call stemmed from Bangladesh and that it received instant support from the smaller states of South Asia gave rise to speculation in some quarters about the impulse among the smaller states for gaining additional multilateral setting. India’s efforts towards regional co-operation and integration are particularly noticeable. It was during the Indian struggle for freedom that closer collaboration with fellow Asians became one of the basis objectives of Indians. It was as early as 1920, C.R. Das, President of the Indian National Congress, urged Indian participation in an Asian Federation which he regarded as inevitable. The need for Asian Federation was again stressed in the Congress Session of 1926. A resolution this effect was adopted by the organization in 1928.