Abstract:
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is one of the prominent
regional organizations in the world in many aspects such as the largest population
and the biggest workforce. Since its inception in 1985, SAARC follows the
principles of making decisions by consensus; and non-discussion on contentious
bilateral issues. According to the SAARC Charter member states are ‘desirous of
peace, stability, amity and progress in the region through strict adherence to the
principles of the United Nations Charter and Non-Alignment (Ahmed and
Bhatnagar , 2008). Somehow, one of the greatest barriers for the SAARC has been
recurring inter-state conflicts between member states, which have posed significant
challenges (ibid).They are the dilemmas such as overlapping goals and conflicts
among its members that make regional cooperation a challenge. The SAARC
countries at present experience various security challenges. Peace and Security for
the region is one goal that all members would want to achieve amidst insecurity,
terrorism and environmental challenges in this century. However, what the 18th
SAARC Summit evidently shows is the desire of SAARC to achieve deep cooperation
through functional areas.
