Challenges

Although leaders of the SAARC countries stressed that it's high time to take the SAARC from a declaratory to the implementation stage, some analysts maintained that the achievements made so far are very limited comparing to its own potential and other regional blocs.

They said the SAARC leaders had talked about eradicating poverty some 10 years ago, but very little has been done. Similarly the SAFTA came into being in 2006, but nothing has been traded yet. They even said the SAARC is now used as a mere platform for annual talks and meetings among its members.

Analysts pointed out that SAARC members' differences usually outweigh their common interest, which prevents the SAARC from making progress as fast as other regional blocks.

India is most powerful in the region and other member states are no rival to it in terms of economic and political influence in the world. The imbalance of power among the organization will, to a great extent, hamper the development of the SAARC because small countries are wary of the dominance of India in the region, a study published by Stanford Journal of International Relations said.

The relationship between India and Pakistan plays a crucial role for regional peace and stability. Their relations have undergone ups and downs despite the composite dialogues between them. The Mumbai massacre put their relationship in a difficult situation with India blaming Pakistan for its involvement in the attack.

Another reason for the slow progress is that SAARC countries don't share common values that are rooted in culture, language and religion although they have a common history. The common values shared by European Union countries, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries or NAFTA countries are hardly available in South Asia.

Three months after the summit, India's Mumbai massacre in November, which left 200 people dead, once again reminded people that the South Asian region is vulnerable to terrorist attacks. And the SAARC is facing a tougher situation in the field, which needs more comprehensive cooperation among its member countries.

Its potential can not be fully realized until the regional bloc overcomes its internal problems and focus more on regional cooperation, analysts said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2008)