“Since its inception the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has failed to deliver on its promises.’ What initiatives should be taken to reinvigorate the organization?
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Route 1 South Asia a region economically/culturally, never politically or on security → SAARC (Dhaka 1985) built on consensus → revival must begin where politics cannot reach /
Route 2 premise conceded, but the deficit is political, not institutional → so the demand is sequencing the initiatives, not listing them
institutions exist (Development Fund, University, Food Bank) but unanimity blocks → Jaishankar “jammed vehicle” / no summit since 2014 → Raja Mohan “camel in the caravan” + “big brother, small brother” fear → therefore start functional: Mitrany (habits spill over) → Sidhu’s fields (energy, water, climate, terrorism) → Sharma: make BBIN work (connectivity, river waters, movement of people) → Raja Mohan’s “SAARC minus one”, two-speed charter → India’s heavier load: Muni (dead SAARC dents soft power) → Gujral non-reciprocity + implementation scoreboard → SAFTA negative lists, trade below 5% → trade facilitation before tariff cuts
intergovernmentalism: developing states guard sovereignty most closely, so functional gains may never reach politics; and working outside SAARC has a limit — BIMSTEC/BBIN cannot supplant it
Route 1 no member has left; the 2020 leaders’ video conference shows the platform works when the will exists /
Route 2 the sequence itself is the answer: function → sub-region → flexible charter → summit last
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
Also asked on this head
Regionalisation of World Politics — 14 questions in the Vault.
- QUAD requires more robust architecture than the summit driven mode to tide over the current challenges. Elaborate.
- Explain the success of ASEAN as a regional organisation.
- American President Donald Trump’s proposal to withdraw from the ‘NAFTA’ would bring unforeseen consequences to the regionalisation of world politics. Elaborate. (150 words)
How this is taught
The same flow snapshot, built for every head of the syllabus, with the answer written in class.
The first session of Foundation 2027 is published in full.
Six programmes across three levels.