SARRC

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an organization of

South Asian nations, which was established on 8 December 1985 when the government
of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka formally
adopted its charter providing for the promotion of economic and social progress, cultural
development within the South Asia region and also for friendship and cooperation with
other developing countries. It is dedicated to economic, technological, social, and
cultural development emphasising collective self-reliance
The following countries are part of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation:

MEMBERS:
- Afghanistan
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- India
- Maldives
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Sri Lanka


OBSERVERS:
- Australia
- China
- European Union
- Iran
- Japan
- Mauritius
- Myanmar
- South Korea
- United States



All 27 member nations of the EU would be considered observers.
Aims and objectives of SAARC

Article 1 of the SARRC Charter includes aim and objectives of SAARC. The various
aims and objectives of SAARC are as follows-
1. To promote welfare and betterment of the quality of life of the people of South
Asia.
2. To provide international platform for work on cultural, social and economic
development and provide opportunity to the people of member countries of
SAARC.
3. To promote collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia.
4. To promote mutual trust ,understanding and appreciation of one another's
problems.
5. To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in economic, social,
cultural and scientific fields.
6. To promote co-operation on similar areas with other developing countries.
7. To promote co-operation on international forum on the issues of common
interests to members state.
8. Co-operating with other international and regional organization with similar
objectives.

Principles(Article 2 SAARC Charter)

1. Each member nation is to co-operate by respecting the principles of sovereignty,
equality, territorial integrity, political independence will be used in context of its
working. Either big or small nation, all will be given equal representation.
2. There shall be no interference in the internal affair of any county.
3. Countries will understand their bilateral or multilateral platform for co-operation.
So to protect SAARC.
4. Any bilateral conflict or co-operation will be done in considering the interest of all
countries.

Major areas of co-operation

SARRC have certain major area of co-operation on which it pays more attention than
any other area. The various major area of co-operation within SAARC are as follows-
Agriculture and Rural development, Biotechnology Culture advancement, Economic and
Trade, Education, Energy, Environment, Finance, Funding mechanism, Information
Communication, Media, People to people contact, Poverty alleviation, Science and
technology, Security aspects, Social development and Tourism. In agricultural and rural
development SAARC have attained much, it focuses on on the agricultural development
so as to provide food security to all. The development in in the areas of economic and
trade is noticeable. They even lay much emphasis on the common platform for science
and technology co-operation. Hence due to all these major co-operation SAARC has
attained much more which can be categorized as its achievements.
The guiding principles of SAARC are:
1. Respect the principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political
independence, non-interference in internal affairs of other States and mutual benefit.
2. It is no substitute for bilateral and multilateral cooperation but complements them.
3. Its obligation shall not be inconsistent with bilateral and multilateral obligation; the
charter excluded bilateral and contentious issues from its deliberations.
Its Goals and Objectives:
1. It promotes quality of life and economic growt5h in the region.
2. It strengthens collective self-reliance.
3. It encourages active collaboration in economic, technical and scientific fields.
4. It aims at increasing people to people contact and sharing of information among the
SAARC members.
As Sri Rajiv Gandhi said, it concerns itself with the problems of self-reliance, eradication
of poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and disease in the area.Among the seven member
States, India is in a pre-eminent position in terms of area, population and military
strength. India is the only country in the region that has common land or maritime
borders with all countries of SAARC. Pakistan was a part of British India till 1947;
Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan till 1971. All countries except Nepal and Bhutan
were under British colonial rule till they got Independence. Sri Lanka is only 30 miles
away from the Indian shores. Nepal is geographically, historically and culturally lined
with India. Bhutan is guided by India in its foreign policy since 1949; Maldives is a tiny
island with a population of 2 lakhs. All the SAARC countries are linked together
geographically, historically and culturally.SAARC has a four tiered structure (i) the
annual summit where heads of governments of member States meet (ii) Council of
Ministers which meets once in six months (iii) Standing Committees of the Secretaries
and (iv) Technical Committees of officials and experts.The first summit was held in
December in Bangladesh in 1985. The second summit met in New Delhi (India) in 1986.
The third meeting was at Kathmandu (Nepal) in 1987. The fourth summit was he4ld in
Islamabad (Pakistan) in 1988. The firth summit meet was in Lale (Maladives) in 1990.
Colombo in (Sri Lanka) was the venue for the sixth summit in 1991. The seventh
summit meet was held in Dacca (Bangladesh) in 1993. While the eight summit was
hosted by New Delhi (India) in 1995 the ninth summit was held at Maldives in
1997.SAARC has established a permanent secretariat in Kathmandu (Nepal) and it is
functioning since 1987. The head of the State of the host country acts as Chairman till
the next summit when the chairmanship is handed over to the next host country.SAARC
has come of age and has already reached certain notable agreements and conventions
among the member States. They are:
1. Convention on food security reserve.
2. Convention on suppression of terrorism.
Sri Lanka made a proposal for the creation of a SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement
(SAPTA).
The SAARC members took a historic decision to extend regional co-operation to the
core economic areas. The member nations of SAARC are also interested in activities
concerning mass media, bio-technology and environment. The Male Declaration wanted
to make SAARC, vibrant and result-oriented. The SAARC wants to effectively check
drug abuse and drug trafficking: it wants suppress terrorism and promote organized
tourism. The member nations observed 1991 as, SAARC Year of Shelter, and 1992 as,
SAARC Year of the Disabled. It observed the last decade of the twentieth century as
SAARC Decade of the Girl Child to prohibit discrimination against female children of
the region.SAARC has to go a long way to fulfill the aims and objectives of its charter.
South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA)
SAPTA was envisaged primarily as the first step towards the transition to a South Asian
Free Trade Area (SAFTA) leading subsequently towards a Customs Union, Common
Market and Economic Union. In 1995, the Sixteenth session of the Council of Ministers
(New Delhi, 18-19 December 1995) agreed on the need to strive for the realization of
SAFTA and to this end an Inter-Governmental Expert Group (IGEG) was set up in 1996
to identify the necessary steps for progressing to a free trade area. The Tenth SAARC
Summit (Colombo, 29-31 July 1998) decided to set up a Committee of Experts (COE) to
draft a comprehensive treaty framework for creating a free trade area within the region,
taking into consideration the asymmetries in development within the region and bearing
in mind the need to fix realistic and achievable targets.The SAFTA Agreement was
signed on 6 January 2004 during Twelfth SAARC Summit held in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2006, and the Trade Liberalization
Programme commenced from 1
st
July 2006. Following the Agreement coming into force
the SAFTA Ministerial Council (SMC) has been established comprising the Commerce
Ministers of the Member States. To assist the SMC, a SAFTA Committee of Experts
(SCOE) has been formed. SCOE is expected to submit its report to SMC every six
months. The SAFTA Agreement states that the the SMC shall meet at least once every
year or more oftenas and when considered necessary by the Contracting States. Each
Contracting State shall chair the SMC for a period of one year on rotational basis in
alphabetical order. The exports under SAFTA have been witnessing considerable
upward trend since the launching of the Trade Liberalisation Programme (TLP).As of 10
August 2011, the total f.o.b. value of exports by Member States under SAFTA has
reached to around US$ 1.3 billion since launching of SAFTA
Objectives
The objective of the agreement is to promote good competition in the free trade area
and to provide equitable benefits to all the countries involved in the contracts. It aimed
to benefit the people of the country by bringing transparency and integrity among the
nations. SAFTA was also formed in order to increase the level of trade and economic
cooperation among the SAARC nations by reducing the tariff and barriers and also to
provide special preference to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)among the SAARC
nations.
Instruments
Following are the instrument involved in SAFTA:-
Trade Liberalisation Programme
Rules of Origin
Institutional Arrangements
Consultations and Dispute Settlement Procedures
Safeguard Measures
Any other instrument that may be agreed upon
Trade Liberalisation Programme
According to the Trade Liberalisation Programme Contracting countries must follow the
following tariff reduction schedule. There should be a fall to 20% tariff from the existing
tariff by the Non Least Developing Countries and 30% reduction from the existing tariff
by the Least Developing Countries. But trade liberalisation scheme is not be applied for
the sensitive list because this list is to be negotiated among the contracting countries
and then to be traded. Sensitive list will involve common agreement among the
contracting countries favouring the least developed contracting countries. SAFTA
Ministerial Council (SMC) will be participating to review the sensitive list in every four
years with view of reducing the list.
SAARC in the context of Regionalism

The partnership of SAARC has grown in strength and importance over the years. It is
one that, we trust, will take the South Asian Region to a position of strength and
importance, with a singular voice and new approaches, to dealing with the many issues
that confront both South Asia and the world at large, says President Mahinda
Rajapaksa in his message for the 15th SAARC Summit being held in Colombo
Here is the text of the Presidents message:

The 15th SAARC Summit continues the work begun by the founders of SAARC 23
years ago, when they saw the need for regional cooperation to promote the welfare and
quality of life of all peoples of the South Asia Region, bringing together seven nations
with a common heritage of understanding, enriched by its diversity.
As we meet for this 3rd SAARC Summit in Colombo, with a new member among us, we
see a region that has changed considerably for the better since SAARC was
established. There is more interaction among nations and peoples, greater economic
growth and cooperation throughout; considerable advances in health and education,
and overall improvement of the quality of life within this region, together with a clear
commitment to move further on the path of progress though regional integration. As we
progress in the South Asian Region we are not without the problems that made the
founders of SAARC realize its need. Poverty remains widespread although in lesser
numbers. Many barriers remain to be removed for the promotion of better trade and
commerce within the region. Today, terrorism straddles across the borders of many of
our member states, and the South Asian Region too, has to face the challenges of food
security and depleting fossil fuels, as well as climate change.
At the last SAARC Summit in New Delhi, there was understanding reached on the
importance of connectivity among our nations and peoples. We also realized the need
to be an action-oriented organization to transform into reality the many good measures
endorsed by SAARC over the years. From the need for greater connectivity we now
move towards a genuine partnership for all our peoples. This is a partnership that has
grown in strength and importance over the years. It is one that, we trust, will take the
South Asian Region to a position of strength and importance, with a singular voice and
new approaches, to dealing with the many issues that confront both South Asia and the
world at large.
I wish all success to the partnership we seek to build for our people, in the sprit of unity
and understanding that SAARC stands for.
SAARC failure :
Clash of civilizations:
Prof. Samuel Huntington has mentioned in his book the clash of civilizations that
SAARC has been a failure because according to him the countries that belong to
associations like EU etc they belong to same culture but SAARC belongs to those
countries whose cultures are different. India and Pakistan are foes of each other, they
fight on pity things, and then how can these two countries help each other in one
association. The one country does not have feeling of belonging with the other area
or state.
People to people contact:
The contact of the people with the association is zero and as well as with the people of
the member countries .they dont know when was the association made and that was
the purpose then how can they join together to help their own state solve their
problems
Pathetic condition of the south Asia:
260 million inhabitants of the south Asia lack basic facilities in south Asia and it the
most deprived region too. 337 million people lack safe drinking water: 830 million are
without rudimentary sanitation and 400 million go hungry every day. SAARC is the most
militarized place in world; its two countries Pakistan and India are spending $ 30 billion
on their defense expense. Afghanistan, its newly member is facing war from last 30
years. In view of these all major problems how such association cans can successfully
work.
Trade:
All the south Asian countries look up to India to share it s huge markets because of its
size andlocation, where 80% of the of the intra-regional trade in south Asia is to or from
India. India blames the failure of SAFTA on Pakistan but its not true at all because
SAFTA
requires India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to bring their duties down to 20% in the two year
period ending in 2007.The 20% duty in the final phase ending in 2012 will be reduced to
zero. During the fiscal period of 2006-2007, the exports of India were in billion dollars
but their imports were no more than $350 million. This shows that that how one country
wants to put the others duty to 0.
Different Political system:
The different kind of politics in the member states is also the reason of the failure of
SAARC. In south Asia their hadnt been a strong democratic region. Like in India there
is democracy, in Pakistan there is transitional democracy, kingship in Nepal and presidential
system in Sri Lanka.
The most countries have remained unstable in the past and the future. The dispute
between the two countries India and Pakistan over Kashmir issue has never let these
two giant countries of the south Asia to go along well and set aside their differences on
the SAARC forum. A part from this the India has dome disputes with its rest of the
member countries like Pakistan ,Bangladesh , Nepal , Bhutan , and th9is thing also
hasnt helped SAARC cause.
FUTURE OF SAARC:
The future of SAARC seems to be vanished. The reason is that the
culture of the member countries is not same, the people to people contact is very limited
and major reason is Indias attitude towards the member countries. The reason is that
the relations between the member countries is not good they donot cooperate with each
other and the main reason is India