China: Emerging Partner of SAARC

摘要

In 1985, seven South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) gathered at Dhaka and laid the foundation of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) with an aim at improving the quality of life of their people. In the subsequent two decades, however, the organization failed in achieving any meaningful progress. The interstate conflicts between India and Bangladesh, India and Nepal, Nepal and Bhutan and at the top between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, dominated SAARC agendas, thus blocking developments towards regional integration.