Question

Write a short note on the role and the limitations of SAARC as a forum for facilitating economic cooperation among the South Asian countries.

Answer 1

SAARC has come to be existed in 1985 with eight member countries in the Indian sub-continent.It is an economic and geopolitical cooperation organization and it's roles and principles are as follows,
* Promoting peace, stability and cooperation between among South Asian countries.
* Increasing the quality of life of the people in the region.
* Reducing the trade barriers through South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA)
* Maintaining good relations with neighbours and having mutual economic cooperation through South Asian Preferential Trade Agreements(SAPTA).
* Accelerating social progress and cultural developments through various initiatives.

Answer 2

Role of SAARC: Role of SAARC can be identified as follows: 1. ‘South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation’ (SAARC) is a regional initiative among South Asian states to evolve cooperation from 1985 onwards. 2. It consists of seven members to encourage mutual harmony and understanding. 3. SAARC has initiated SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement) to free trade zones for whole south Asia for collective economic security. 4. SAARC has projected on the economic development of its member states to reduce their dependencies on the non-regional powers. Limitations: SAARC is growing slowly due to political differences among its member states: 1. Only the conflicts led to bilateral issues as Kashmir problem between India and Pak. 2. Some of India’s neighbors fear that India intends to dominate them by influencing their societies and politics. 3. SAARC members are from among the developing or least developing countries which creates insufficiency of funds.Read more on Sarthaks.com - https://www.sarthaks.com/120524/limitations-saarc-forum-facilitating-economic-cooperation-among-south-asian-countries