The elephant in the region

摘要

South Asia is about the least integrated part of the world. Neighbours supply just 0.5% of India's imports, and consume less than 4% of its exports. India and Pakistan, mutually antago nistic, account for a fifth of all living humans, yet their bilat eral trade is puny, at less than $3 billion a year. The main re gional body, the South Asian Association for Regional Co-op eration, is an irrelevance.