Modi and South Asian cooperation

The invitation sent to the heads of governments of the SAARC member states to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi at his insistence and the quick response from these countries signal a positive message for promotion of South Asian amity. As members of young generation, we deeply appreciate such a great initiative taken by Modi. Needless to say, lack of perfect leadership and the sustained hostile relations due to certain narrow interests have been the major stumbling blocks in the path of regional cooperation so far.
Although the SAARC was established in 1985 to promote regional cooperation, South Asia is still cited as the least developed region in the world. But the question is, why the SAARC could not make any headway in regional cooperation and collaboration. It was due to lack of 'political will' that the SAARC has achieved little so far. Because at the end of the day, it is the political leaders who formulate and implement policies no matter whatever scholarships come in and how much discussions and debates take place over any regional issue.
Hence, to promote South Asian cooperation, the region needs visionary leaders and their political will.  South Asian leaders nurtured hostile relations since long just to promote their narrow interests. Time has come for these member states to come out of narrow national interests and think about the one-fourth humanity of the region trapped in poverty. While attending Modi's oath-taking ceremony, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he had brought a message of peace from Pakistan. He emphasised on dialogue to settle disputes. His stand is quite appreciable.
Indeed, bilateral issues in the region -whether it is Indo-Bangladesh water-sharing dispute or Indo-Sri Lankan maritime dispute or Indo-Pak water or border-sharing issues - can be settled through dialogues. The recent peaceful resolution of Bangladesh-India and Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime disputes is a case in point.
Adil Najam and Moeed Yusuf in their recent book 'South Asia 2060' claim that 'competitiveness, not cooperation, defines today's South Asia'. And the result of such competitiveness and lack of cooperation now is that South Asia is the home to half of the world's hungry people. Tens of thousands of people lack access to medical facilities and so on.
South Asia's future depends on perfect, sharp and visionary leadership and lies with young generations. But the challenge is that there will always be certain groups who do not favour regional cooperation for the sake of their narrow interests. For instance, the invitation to SAARC leaders from Modi to join his swearing-in was debated in Pakistan. There was even an attack on the Indian consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat by armed groups. One can link it as a negative signal from certain groups who are against promoting regional cooperation. Through far-sightedness and visionary planning, the SAARC leaders should handle this properly and promote South Asian cooperation.
In this age of globalisation and inter-dependence, no country can live and prosper in isolation. So, India cannot prosper by alienating other SAARC member countries and sustaining hostile relations.  Europe provides us a glaring example of the importance of cooperation and consequences of sustaining hostile relations. Fighting and competition were common phenomena in the European history. But today, Europe has come under the umbrella of regional integration which is paying off to the region as a whole.
Finally, it's time to think how long the region will be cited as the least developed one of the world. How long one-fourth poverty-stricken humanity will have to wait to enjoy the fruits of South Asian cooperation? From 1947 till 2014, we have already wasted a long time to cooperate regionally.
It is wise to act now for the betterment for all of us. In this context, there is no alternative to a bold, visionary, and cooperative leadership from the heads of governments of SAARC member states. India and Pakistan should play a pivotal role since it is often said that South Asian cooperation has been hijacked by the 'Indo-Pak' rivalry.
The writer did Masters in International Relations from
South Asian University and University of Dhaka.
 [email protected]