Regional Cooperation in South Asia

The idea of regionalism predates even the attainment of independence by India, Pakistan and Srilanka. There have been two generations of attempts at regionalism in Asia involving South Asian countries since the 1940s. It is the second generation of such attempts to which the present move initiated by Bangladesh in May 1980, to establish a framework for regional co-oper ation among the seven South Asian count ries namely: India, Pakistan, Srilanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives, along with Bangladesh, belongs.

In this book, all the relevant economic, socio-cultural, politico-strategic and diplo matic aspects of the present move have been studied in detail against the back ground of the historical evolution of regio nalism in South Asia. The objectives and approaches of the U.S., the USSR and China towards the present move have been competently dealt with. After a thorough scrutiny of the potentialities of and impediments regional co-operation to the study comes to the conclusion that regional co-operation in South Asia has come to acquire a steady momentum. The prospects of its progress would depend upon regime stability, mutual strategic and security relations and the role of external powers and agencies in the region.

Prepared on the basis of extensive re search work which included visits to South Asian countries and extensive discussions with senior foreign ministry officials of India, Srilanka and Nepal, the study offers new insights into the dynamics of intra-re gional relations in South Asia. It will be found useful both by the serious scholars and students.