Chapter One Introduction

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION “The Heads of State or Government reaffirmed that their fundamental goal was to accelerate the process of economic and social development in their respective countries through the optimum utilization of their human and material resources, so as to promote the welfare and prosperity of their peoples and to improve their quality of life. They were conscious that peace and security was an essential prerequisite for the realization of this objective”. The Dhaka Declaration 1985 (SAARC 2008d:3). The increasing level of inter-dependence among the countries of a particular region has been the key factor in promoting regionalism. Countries across the world have joined regional mechanisms due to either regional security vis-à-vis any perceived external military threats or human security and economic integration. South Asia is a case in point where many human security challenges, such as poverty alleviation, food, energy, and water security, demand regional cooperation. In the late 1970s, General Ziaur Rahman, then President of Bangladesh, proposed the idea of a South Asian forum and shared that with his counterparts in the region. In 1985, the leaders of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka established the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to work together for the realisation of several goals, economic cooperation being one of them. In 2007, Afghanistan became a permanent member of the Association. SAARC was a latecomer in following the growing trend of regionalism. For example, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established in 1967. The initial process of regionalism began after World War II, with the main focus on trade liberalisation among member states (Langenhove 2004:7). Since then, regionalism has flourished in different parts of the world, albeit with different intentions. The end of the Cold War added a new dimension to regionalism, now labelled as ‘new regionalism’. In the 1990s regional organisations strengthened their commitment to greater economic cooperation through free trade agreements, such as in the European Union (EU), the Arab Maghreb Union, ASEAN, the Caribbean Community, the Common Southern Market (MERCOSUR), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) (Hettne & Söderbaum 2004:194). Following the example of the EU, there has been a rise in the number of regional organisations. However, a variety of reasons has been responsible for the emergence of regional organisations. For example, the protectionist trend was dominant in the initial decades of European regionalism. By contrast, ASEAN was set up as a collective security 1 mechanism against communism and for addressing common human security concerns, such as poverty alleviation, health security, and environmental protection. Global and national institutions are well-developed compared with regional organisations, but they have not been able to fully address the severity of some issues which have cross-border implications, such as climate change, natural disasters, environmental degradation, domestic conflicts (insurgencies), transnational crimes (drug smuggling, human trafficking, etc.) and so on (Hettne & Söderbaum 2004:189). Regional forums are therefore seen suitable by all the countries for addressing common issues among member states through intra-regional policy reforms and actions, and engaging in advocacy for mutual concerns at global forums. According to Rajan (2005:1), regionalism has been identified as the “fastest route to prosperity, for promoting collective interests, ensuring protection against the negative”. However, collective development, both financial and human, is a key incentive in the growth of regionalism in the developing world. Human security challenges, such as poverty, hunger, water scarcity, disease (HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis), natural disasters, environmental degradation, droughts and famine, are not only common in the SAARC member states but also have profound implications for social and economic development. Human security has proved to be the greatest impediment to peace and development in South Asia, and states can only overcome this massive challenge by committing themselves to joint ventures to address common threats. Due to the transnational and interconnected nature of human security concerns, states in South Asia depend on each other to tackle these problems effectively. For instance in 2008, a dam breaking in Nepal caused flooding of the Koshi River in Bihar, India. The landlocked states – Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal – depend not only on water and food from neighbouring states but also on access to seaports. For India to sustain its current level of economic development and to grow further, it needs continued sources of energy and for that it is reliant on its neighbours. Bhutan has been the biggest exporter of hydropower electricity to India, and New Delhi has shown interest in natural gas from Bangladesh and via Pakistan from Iran and Central Asia. Thus, the level of inter-dependence among the SAARC countries is on the rise. Among other human security threats, climate change is seen to be a serious challenge faced by most SAARC members. Projected impacts of climate change show that melting glaciers 2 are likely to cause heavy floods in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and a severe shortage of water in South Asia, and may result in damage to agricultural economies in the region, thereby adding more people to the vicious cycle of poverty. Hussain (2008:157) emphasises that concurrent traditional and human insecurities in South Asia are making this region severely underdeveloped, placing a premium on rethinking the regional security model. The inter- dependent nature of various human security threats in South Asia demands a regional vision and action. South Asian regionalism has been suffering from the bilateral tensions and differences between SAARC member states. The history of the region is filled with conflict such as that between India and Pakistan, which fought four wars between 1948 and 1999. It is therefore not surprising that South Asia is one of the most militarised regions of the world and home to millions of the poorest people in the world (Hussain 2006:236). According to data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), between 2005 and 2009, India ranked number two and Pakistan number ten in the list of the top-20 importers of arms in the world (SIPRI 2009 online). Consequently, the threat of a nuclear holocaust in South Asia is an everyday reality due to unstable Indo-Pak relations. South Asian countries suffer from both bilateral and domestic disputes; however, the nature of security challenges has been changing. Security threats have also increased, from bilateral rivalry to nuclear proliferation, arms smuggling, drug and human trafficking, and terrorism (Richter & Wagner 1998:12). In addition, cross-border and domestic migration have created security challenges for some countries, especially India. Ghosh (1998:131) indicates that in South Asia people relocate mainly to protect their life or property, to avoid religious persecution, or to achieve ethnic and religious homogenisation. Ghosh did not mention the economic and environmental drivers of migration, which have been motivations in forcing tens of thousands of people to move from Nepal and Bangladesh to India. The cross-border migration of people in South Asia has often triggered bilateral tensions, such as between Bhutan and Nepal, and India and Bangladesh, and human security threats continue to be push- and-pull factors in increasing the displacement and migration of people. The South Asian approach to regional security focuses on collective efforts addressing common human security challenges, but this process is not disconnected from the geo-politics of the region and traditional security threats. Thus SAARC, willingly or unwillingly, had to 3 address the controversial issue of terrorism. Initially the consensus to combat terrorism was confined only to certain regional agreements, but constant accusations of cross-border terrorism, primarily between India and Pakistan, forced the Association to implement anti- terrorism measures. SAARC, even though often faced with bilateral political hindrances, has since 2005 managed to move beyond consensus-building engagements through project implementation in certain areas. In this regard, it is significant to share the words of Sheel Kant Sharma (2010 online), Former Secretary General of SAARC : The fundamental premise of regionalism among South Asian countries lies in the recognition that challenges confronting the region cannot be resolved through action in national domains alone. It is imperative to develop and forge regional cooperation in different areas, even though implementation would primarily have to be done nationally. To external observers, SAARC is a tenuous creation. This is because most of them have focused their analysis of SAARC predominantly on the pre-implementation phase of the regional project, that is, on consensus-building. To make it clear, consensus-building is an ongoing process but initially, from 1985 to 2004/2005, the work of the body was limited only to the agenda-setting phase. In this thesis, the period after 2005 is labelled as the ‘SAARC implementation phase’ because the Association has been able to realise some of its action plans. In a colloquial manner, many researchers and journalists continue to label SAARC as

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