Regionalism and Regional Security in South Asia

The Role of SAARC

Zahid Shahab Ahmed

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781409467694
• eBook ISBN: 9781317069003
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Political Economy
• Index: Economics

Zahid Shahab Ahmed evaluates the progress of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). This study goes beyond economic integration to present a detailed appraisal of cooperation under the overarching themes of economic cooperation, environmental security, human welfare, and cooperation in security matters. According to the author, SAARC is making progress in addressing the myriad of issues on its agenda. The transition from agreements to actions and frequent interactions among the member states has boosted confidence. The progress of SAARC is more evident in the less controversial areas of human security, such as poverty alleviation, health and safety, human resources development, and higher education. Notwithstanding enthusiastic commitments reflected in agreements and action plans, there is a gulf between rhetoric and implementation most notably in sensitive areas relating to traditional security. In the light of the findings of this study, the author proposes that greater cooperation in common human security areas has a potential to pave the way for a cooperation on issues of a 'contentious' nature, particularly terrorism.

Chapter 1
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 2008c: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. SAARC was a latecomer in following the growing trend of regionalism. For example, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established in 1967. In 2007, Afghanistan became a permanent member of SAARC.

Regionalism began after World War II, with the focus on trade liberalisation among member states. 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).

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 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 and 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 the world over 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 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 conflicts 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) in 2009, India ranked number two and Pakistan number ten in the list of the top-20 importers of arms in the world (SIPRI 2009). Consequently, the threat of a nuclear holocaust in South Asia is an everyday reality due to unstable India-Pakistan 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 and 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 geopolitics of the region and traditional security threats. Thus SAARC, willingly or unwillingly, had to 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), 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 2004-05, the work of the body was limited only to the agenda-setting phase. In this book, 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 a ‘regional drama’, as was affirmed during the fieldwork undertaken for this study. Also, for some South Asian scholars, there is an unreal character about SAARC which is underlined by its inability to implement action plans by going beyond the regular round of summit meetings (Sharma 2007:x). Such views are not only misleading but also unfair because SAARC has not been seen through a framework measuring its performance vis-à-vis its very purpose, intentions and attempted actions. Mostly, a cost-benefit analysis has been applied to assess the progress of SAARC. What is needed is a comprehensive reappraisal of the Association’s progress to date. This study seeks to provide that.

Research Questions and Objectives

The central assumption of this research is that regional cooperation through both agreements and actions in areas of human security strengthens regionalism. As a result, such collaborations have the potential to not only address pertinent human security issues, but also common traditional security threats. Here, a case study of SAARC is conducted to argue this proposition.

It aims to present big-picture trends in economic, environmental, food, water and energy insecurities, as well as transnational crimes in South Asia. In response to recent debates on climate change in the SAARC region and outside, this study presents an account of major human security issues in connection to the likely implications of climate change for South Asia.

The research explores the inter-reliant nature of human security threats at the South Asian regional level – demanding greater cooperation through SAARC. It engages in critical analyses of regional initiatives that promote cooperation in human security areas in order to gain a better understanding of the Association, and to discover what the implications of regional cooperation in uncontroversial areas (the functionalist approach) are for regionalism in South Asia.

This study aims to work beyond the implications of the India–Pakistan conflict for regionalism in South Asia and attempts to arrive at a more realistic and balanced approach to studying regionalism through the window of SAARC’s structure, actions and challenges.

Significance

The literature presents two extreme views on SAARC, one criticising the Association for its inability to tackle bilateral disputes and the other appreciating its limited progress (Rodrigo 2004:279). Overall, the majority of studies present a dismal picture of SAARC by labelling it a dysfunctional organisation (Bailes 2007b:1; Reed 1997:235). However, there are examples of studies finding some encouraging developments in SAARC with reference to cooperation in human security areas while finding the Association at an embryonic stage (Basrur 2005; Dash 2008:198).

To think of the SAARC’s future in the area of regional security, it is important to evaluate its ongoing cooperation in several important areas to test a basic assumption of the Association. SAARC, like some other regional organisations, such as the Organisation of African Unity (present day African Union), decided to refrain from getting into the geopolitics of the region and adopted the functionalist approach to regionalism. Functionalism is based on an assumption that cooperation in low politics can provide space for engagement in high politics towards regional security (Reed 1997:244; Brar 2003:31; Morin 2008:4). This approach has been found unsuitable in the South Asian context because the implications of India–Pakistan rivalry for regionalism in this region cannot be ignored (Ahmed and Bhatnagar 2008; Brar 2003; Reed 1997). These studies have not investigated the pros and cons of functionalism in South Asia, especially with reference to other methods of cooperation, such as neo-functionalism, and through comparison with similar organisations.

There is a plethora of literature available on SAARC, but most of that has limitations. Firstly, there has been too much focus on economic cooperation in South Asia and its implications for SAARC (Burki 2005; De 2005; Lamberte 2005; Rana 1997; Yasin and Khan 2006). This could be because after the EU, economic integration is often seen as the backbone of regionalism. Secondly, the literature has been limited to the analysis of the policies and issues of big players, such as Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan; thus a balanced approach has not been adopted to understand the role of each member state in the Association (Ahmed and Bhatnagar 2008; Jorgensen 2001:126; Kanesalingam 1993a:46; Thornton 1991:136). For example, due to the India–Pakistan rivalry it is believed that SAARC has failed to promote regional cooperation (Basrur 2005:9; Misra 2004:30). Thirdly, the work of SAARC in a whole range of other areas, such as health, education, poverty alleviation, environmental security, et cetera, has not been analysed thoroughly. Fourthly, a compressive critique of the SAARC’s programmes has not been conducted to understand its role vis-à-vis regional security, though in studies a correlation between cooperation in the areas of human security and regional peace has been identified (Bailes 2007a:1; Bhargava, Bongartz and Sobhan 1995:12). Lastly, before this attempt, a study has not presented a balanced analysis of SAARC by taking into consideration the views of both SAARC officials and outside experts.

The contemporary literature contains no discussion on whether or not cooperation in areas, such as terrorism, drug trafficking and human smuggling, along with free trade in the region are likely to provide South Asia with the much awaited first steps in regionalism. According to Bhargava et al. (1995:17), “Cooperation should be on what is feasible and practical” under existing circumstances in South Asia. Bailes (2007b:9) argues that regional security in South Asia does not have to be achieved through conventional ways and that “it is theoretically possible that new life might be breathed into SAARC itself by using it to pursue human security or functional security issues”. This point will be closely examined in this book.

With South Asian scholars and policymakers becoming increasingly apprehensive over the role of SAARC in creating a South Asian political and security community, insufficient attention is given to the work of the Association in addressing human security challenges. Not only for SAARC but also for many similar organisations, such as ASEAN, it has been relatively easier to reach a consensus on the uncontroversial areas of cooperation. In South Asia, through this scheme, it has been easier for SAARC to engage India and Pakistan in regional cooperation.

Politically, South Asia is not a permanently defined geographical entity because in 2007 Afghanistan became a member of SAARC. This suggests that as the organisation it is open to new members. The membership of Afghanistan offers some opportunities and challenges in relation to regional security in South Asia. So far, studies of SAARC have not diverted their attention from big players in the region to analysing the implications of including Afghanistan in the Association. This research attempts to fill an existing gap in the literature by encompassing issues of regionalism and regional security in South Asia, and by underlining the role and concerns of the smaller South Asian countries.

SAARC conventions, declarations and policies are evidence of the fact that the Association has managed to not only develop a consensus in the uncontroversial areas but has also implemented worthwhile initiatives, such as the SAARC Development Fund, and the South Asian University. Often SAARC countries have united to raise their collective voice at international forums on issues endangering the human security of their people. For example, the SAARC members adopted a common position at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This study contends that issues of human security are equally crucial to state security.

Since SAARC has been in existence for over 26 years, it is opportune to evaluate its impact and take a fresh look at some of the challenges and prospects involved in South Asia’s journey from “conflict to cooperation” (Sharma 2007:ix). This research attempts to provide a first-hand and value-neutral perspective on SAARC and its role in promoting human security in South Asia. Therefore, it is hoped that it will prove useful for policymakers and researchers from the SAARC region and outside, as there has been a growing interest in SAARC and the economic potential of the region. This fact is also evident from the ever increasing number of SAARC Observers, namely from Australia, China, Myanmar (Burma), the EU, Japan, Iran, Mauritius, South Korea and the United States. Iran and China have also shown a keen interest in becoming permanent members of the Association.

Methodology

To address the key questions underpinning this study, it was deemed vital to directly engage with the SAARC Secretariat and its institutions. To achieve this, the researcher underwent an internship at the SAARC Secretariat based in Kathmandu during August-September 2009. During the stay there, all (eight) country directors/representatives and the Secretary General of the Association were interviewed. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire. The duration of interviews varied from 15 minutes to two hours, depending on the time afforded by the interviewees. Prior to the interviews, research participants were provided with an information sheet outlining the project. In this book, only the affiliations of respondents are mentioned and not their names to respect their confidentiality.

Other than the high-ranking officials at the SAARC Secretariat, a few members of the support staff were also interviewed, mostly informally. These people were considered worthwhile for the research because of their long affiliation with SAARC and because they were in a better position than rotational, bureaucrats were to sketch the developments in that organisation.

It was considered important also to visit some of the diplomatic missions of South Asian countries in Nepal, and in this regard, interviews were conducted with the members of South Asian embassies in Kathmandu. In addition, the author interviewed a number of prominent academics, journalists and researchers in Nepal and Pakistan with an eye to expanding the understanding of the Association and to finding out what civil society thought about South Asian regionalism. In Pakistan, during October-November 2009, the authoralso interviewed representatives of SAARC agencies, namely the SAARC Human Resources Development Centre (SHRDC) and the SAARC Energy Centre, to explore how the vision of the Association in these areas is being implemented through specialised centres. In total, 40 interviews were conducted during the fieldwork.

Scope

It is important to emphasise that the focus of this book is regionalism, and not the process of regionalisation, which is led by non-state actors. There is a plethora of literature on regionalisation led by the non-government sector, often labelled as the ‘unofficial SAARC’ in South Asia, particularly with reference to the role of civil society organisations towards regionalism in South Asia.

Although in SAARC the spectrum of cooperation is very wide, it needs to be stressed that throughout this study the primary focus will be on areas where SAARC has taken action or where its agenda looks promising for meaningful regional cooperation, such as economic security, environmental security, human welfare, terrorism, and transnational crime. This underscores the reason some issues are prioritised over ot...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Abbreviations
• Preface
• Foreword
• 1 Introduction
• 2 An Introduction to South Asia
• 3 SAARC: An Overview
• 4 Economic Cooperation
• 5 Environmental Security
• 6 Human Welfare
• 7 Cooperation in Security Matters
• 8 South Asian Regionalism: Possible Lessons to be Drawn from ASEAN
• 9 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index