SAARC on the wane
SAARC, the inter-governmental organisation for the South Asian states, is undergoing a troubling time. The association hasn’t lived up to the expectations. But never before has it been as irrelevant as it is now.
The last summit of SAARC was held four years ago in 2014 in Kathmandu, Nepal. The 2016 Summit was scheduled to be held in Islamabad but it was called off following a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri, leaving 19 army personnel dead.
In the years since, the association has practically come to a standstill. SAARC is the victim of the animosity between its two most powerful member-states, India and Pakistan. Continuation of the current deadlock may result in the demise of the association.
Md Tarek Aziz Bappi
By e-mail
