South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) was established in 1985. Initially, it was comprised of seven members: Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan due to its political influence on the region was also included as 8th member during 14th SAARC summit at India. The main purpose of SAARC is to promote cooperation and friendly relations among member states. To some extent SAARC has made progress and brought the member states together but due to conflicting relations between two strong states (India and Pakistan), SAARC was unable to be much productive and couldn’t move in a smooth way as it should have moved.
During this summit, Pakistan and India got an opportunity to improve their ties and there seems to be a hope that the process of table talk will continue in the future as well. All South Asian states need to cooperate in all aspects because it is going to have a positive impact on this South Asian region which is full of natural resources. Member states should enhance trade within regional states. They should give priority to neighboring states. Climate is also major concern of states; it affects the whole region equally. Apart from that, we have issues of terrorism, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, gender discrimination and many others. They can be solved through mutual will which they have shown during this summit. Now, all member states should implement decisions taken during this summit to make this region prosperous and developed.
SABA SAHAR SOLANGI
Islamabad