SWP Research Paper Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Christian Wagner Security Cooperation in South Asia Overview, Reasons, Prospects RP 6 June 2014 Berlin All rights reserved. © Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 2014 SWP Research Papers are peer reviewed by senior researchers and the execu- tive board of the Institute. They express exclusively the personal views of the author(s). SWP Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Ludwigkirchplatz 34 10719 Berlin Germany Phone +49 30 880 07-0 Fax +49 30 880 07-100 www.swp-berlin.org
[email protected] ISSN 1863-1053 (English version of SWP-Studie 2/2014) Table of Contents 5 Problems and Conclusions 7 In Search of Security Cooperation in South Asia 9 Security Cooperation in South Asia: An Attempt of an Overview 9 The Bilateral Level: India and Its Neighbors 9 Pakistan 10 Afghanistan 11 Nepal 12 Bhutan 13 Bangladesh 14 Sri Lanka 16 Maldives 17 The Multilateral Level: Security in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation 18 Potential and Limitations of Cooperation 19 Reasons for Cooperation 19 The National Level: Democracy and Internal Conflicts 19 The International Level 20 India’s South Asia Policy: From Indira to Manmohan Doctrine 20 The Multilateral Level: The SAARC Charter of Democracy 21 The Role of External Actors: The China Factor 22 Prospects: Toward a Security Architecture in South Asia? 22 Abbreviations Dr. habil. Christian Wagner is Head of SWP’s Asia Division Problems and Conclusions Security Cooperation in South Asia Overview, Reasons, Prospects South Asia continues to be one of the most important crisis regions in the 21st century.