A connected and accessible South Asia: better late than never

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has eight member countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri-Lanka). These eight countries have a number of large and small nationalities (such as Bengalis, Punjabis, Tamil), who have been living across the current national borders since the medieval or perhaps since the primeval era. On the other hand, the broader cultural aspects, life style, and ethnicity of the people of these eight countries are quite similar, in comparison to the global diversity of human race. The huge population of this region have the unique racial identity as South-Asian; however their socio-economic development has not progressed to a state, where it could have been today, if they had more accessible cooperation among the SAARC member countries and its population.
A united SAARC that would be more accessible for the population of its member countries could bring enormous possibilities for collective development of this region. The leaders of this region are responsible for the development of the 21 per cent of total world population. However, since the inception of SAARC in 1985, the cooperative development promises of this Regional Association are still in a gloomy condition that has turned the SAARC today, just into a rubber-stamp type Association. Yes, there is geo-political tension among the South-Asian countries, which is more intense in comparison to the member countries of European Union. Nevertheless, the SAARC could have been more effective to pursue its cooperative promises for the collective development of its huge population, who are known as one of the most deprived human race of our time. Among many other areas of cooperation, few core areas of collective development would include education, research and development (ERD) ; regional trade; cultural activities; sustainable development challenges (SDCs); communication and inter-border commuting (CIC) without visa but not without monitoring; and a unified currency system, like Euro.
The graduates from South-Asian universities have been working successfully across the world, whilst contributing remarkably in their specific fields of activity. However, the global reputation and ranking of the South-Asian universities are not optimistic. More exchange programmes, joint-scholarships, collaborative research initiatives and cooperation across different ERD sectors among the South-Asian universities can be instrumental to improve the reputation of the universities in this region. Once there will be more interactions among the students and scholars of SAARC member countries, it will naturally contribute to the collective development of the region.
Tariff-free trade among the member countries can help flourish the big and small industries, whilst ensuring the most competitive price for the consumers of this region. Similarly, more initiatives for joint cultural activities across the member countries can be benefited commercially in the huge South-Asian market, based on creating more creative productions for the common markets across the borders of these countries. For example, more joint creative productions (e.g. cinema, TV shows and other arts and crafts) among the Bengalis of Bangladesh and West Bengal in India, among the Punjabis in India and Pakistan, or the Tamils in India and Sri Lanka can boost the creative industries in the SAARC member countries, considering that such creative productions have common markets not only across the borders of these countries, but also around the world among the population who speak same language.
Another core area of regional cooperation is working together for the SDCs, such as poverty, health and wellbeing, employment and equality, ecological concerns and so on. The collaborative ERD initiatives across the SAARC member countries can contribute for sustainable business and trade, innovation and creative activities, and working together to address the SDCs in this region. Is 'no visa required' or at least 'on arrival visa' for inter-border commuting among the SAARC member countries too much to ask for in the 21st century? On the one hand, neither the 'no visa required' nor the 'on arrival visa' system can deteriorate the law enforcement bodies' scope to monitor the human traffic whilst people travel through the authorised ports across the borders. On the other hand, the 'no visa required' or the 'on arrival visa' system can save time and money for the mass people of this region, whilst they travel for ERD, trade, cultural activities, medical treatment, tourism or any other socio-economic purposes. Eventually, the freer the CIC across the borders can be governed, the higher the opportunities for people to work together to pursue the region's mutually beneficial diverse goals for collective development.
Last but not least, a unified currency system for these eight countries can help protect the economic interests of the population of this region at the global stage. For this, the SAARC leaders should work for acclimatising the required resources with International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Bank and other global and regional partners to implement a unified currency within a reasonably foreseeable period of time. On one hand, it takes time to plan, implement and monitor such a unified currency. On the other hand, nearly four decades have elapsed since the inception of SAARC without any meaningful collaborative development initiatives, in comparison to the promise that the SAARC has for the region's development. In general, the mass people across the borders of these eight countries have mutual respect, love and affection for each other. Instead of dividing its population like before, the South-Asian leaders should step up in addition to the region's geo-political concerns, in order to demonstrate the much needed willingness to decide on the contexts, based on what they can meaningfully activate the SAARC to finally unify the region and work together for collective development. Let the people of this unique racial identity connect together to pursue their mutual development goals, as a connected and accessible South-Asia, which is better late than never.

Dr Riad Shams is Senior Lecturer in Marketing and PhD Programme Leader - Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, UK. Riad.Shams@northumbria.ac.uk