Locating the Loopholes of South-South Cooperation in South Asia: Can SAARC Deter Hostilities and Promote Cooperation?

Abstract

Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XL, No.3, Spring 2017 Locating the Loopholes of South–South Cooperation in South Asia: Can SAARC Deter Hostilities and Promote Cooperation? Zaglul Haider* Introduction Against the backdrop of growing inequality between the North and the South, and increasing infectivity of cooperation between the two, the importance of cooperation among the Southern developing countries of the world has increased to a significant extent. The strategy of South-South cooperation (SSC) is clearly endorsed by the principles of the United Nations. In the aftermath of increasing poverty, inequality and under development in South Asia, it is an imperative to expand SSC in order to change the condition of more than 1 billion underprivileged people in the region. The Global South in general and the countries of South Asia in particular, lack the managerial capacity to combat the major threats of internal security emanating from within the societies unlike the Western developed societies.1 The limited abilities of these countries to manage the emerging crises independently increase the necessity for SSC. The World Bank report shows that by 2008, South Asia experienced 36% extreme poverty 35 *Zaglul Haider is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Rajshahi. He earned PhD degree in Political Science from Clark Atlanta University, U.S.A. He obtained an L.L.M. from Osgoode Hall Law School. Currently, he is a PhD candidate in law at Osgoode Hall Law School. His book The Changing pattern of Bangladesh Foreign Policy was published by the University Press Limited, Dhaka, in 2006. His articles are published in The Security Dialogue, Asian Survey, The Round Table, Asian and African Studies, African and Asian studies, South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Regional Studies, Asian Profile, the Asiatic Society Journal, Journal of International Relations and in many South Asian academic Journals. 1 Mohammed Ayoob, “Security in the Third World: The Worm about to Turn?” International Affairs 60 (1983-84): 46. 36 where a person is living on $ 1.25.2 Given this scenario, SSC is an imperative for South Asian countries. Meaningful SSC is also important in order to preserve and protect their minimum core values i.e. political independence, territorial integrity, or the security.3 This paper argues that bilateral hostilities between India and most of the South Asian countries and Indian domineering role in South Asia created mistrust and misunderstanding between India and other South Asian countries. The South Asian neighbors consider India as a dominating state, given her political, economic and military power as well as hostile attitude toward them. This power politics of India is primarily responsible for the slow economic cooperation in South Asia. This paper further argues that within the existing Charter of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), where bilateral, political and contentious issues are deliberately denied formal discussion, SSC or regional integration in its fullest capacity is not feasible. Although SAARC emerged as an economic forum, economic cooperation does not work effectively, if deeply rooted political hostilities or rivalries among the partners do exist. Therefore, to promote SSC within the regional framework of SAARC, my approach is to incorporate all bilateral issues under the purview of SAARC. To this end, SAARC Charter needs to be amended. This will not only settle the existing political disputes but also accelerate SSC within the SAARC region. This paper is organized into five sections. Section1 introduces the paper, formulates the arguments, and shapes the structure of the chapter. Section 2 defines SSC, explains the evolution of SSC, rationale for SSC and the justifications for SSC in South Asia. Section 3 focuses on the loopholes of SSC in South Asia which includes political, economic and security challenges that limit the scope of SSC. Section 4 explores if SAARC at all is capable to promote regional economic cooperation and defuse tensions under its present charter. If not, why and how to make SAARC an effective regional instrument. In conclusion I summarize the main findings and recommend some policies for the promotion SSC in the region. 2 World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on $1.25 per day. The World Bank report is cited in Nikhilla Gill, “Extreme...