Across the diplomatic corridors of South Asia, calls to reactivate the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) are gaining momentum once again. In recent times, Mohamed Muizzu, the President of Maldives, made a strong pitch for reviving this regional grouping. Joining this push, the new administration in Bangladesh has also actively advocated for bringing SAARC back onto the operational track. Smaller member states argue that South Asia's common challenges, ranging from economic distress and poverty to climate change and regional connectivity, cannot be effectively resolved without structured multilateral cooperation. However, despite these persistent appeals, New Delhi shows little enthusiasm. This raises fundamental questions: why has no SAARC summit been held since 2016? Is this deadlocked state purely a reflection of ongoing India-Pakistan hostilities, or does it stem from a broader, calculated foreign policy strategy adopted by India?
The Founding, Objectives, and Massive Demographic Reach of SAARC
To understand the current impasse, it is vital to trace the origins and foundational mandate of SAARC. The organization was formally established on December 8, 1985, in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Its core objective was to accelerate economic growth, social progress, cultural development, and strategic collaboration among South Asian nations. The bloc comprises eight member states: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Afghanistan. Representing one of the most densely populated regions on Earth, SAARC encompasses nearly two billion people who depend directly or indirectly on regional stability and trade. Paradoxically, despite representing nearly a quarter of humanity, the organization has remained practically dormant and dysfunctional for nearly a decade.
India's Central Position and Economic Preeminence in South Asia
India occupies an extraordinarily dominant position on the geographic, demographic, and economic map of South Asia. Nearly 75 percent of the region's entire population resides within India. Furthermore, India stands as the largest and fastest-growing economy in the region, exercising unmatched influence across defense, trade, investment, infrastructure, energy networks, and maritime security. Consequently, the foreign policies of most neighboring nations are continuously shaped by their bilateral dynamics with India. When analyzing the prolonged paralysis of SAARC, analysts emphasize that the core issue is not structural weakness within the organization itself, but the fragile state of India-Pakistan relations. Strategic experts frequently observe that bilateral relations between India and Pakistan effectively serve as the on-off switch for SAARC.
The 2016 Uri Terror Attack and the Sudden Stall of SAARC Summits
A defining operational feature of SAARC is its consensus-based decision-making framework, which mandates that no major resolution can be adopted without the explicit approval of all eight member countries. The annual summit represents the highest decision-making body of the association, hosted by member nations on a rotational basis. In 2016, the 19th SAARC summit was scheduled to take place in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. However, shortly before the event, a deadly cross-border terrorist attack targeted an Indian Army camp in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in the martyrdom of several Indian soldiers. In response to this horrific attack and to signal zero tolerance for state-sponsored terrorism, India officially boycotted the Islamabad summit. Following India's decision, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Afghanistan also withdrew, forcing the cancellation of the summit. No SAARC summit has taken place ever since.
New Delhi's Unwavering Position: Terrorism and Cooperation Cannot Coexist
India has consistently maintained a principled and uncompromising diplomatic stance regarding regional engagement. Without directly naming Pakistan, India's Ministry of External Affairs recently reaffirmed New Delhi's position, stating that every nation in South Asia is fully aware of which specific country acts as the primary obstacle to SAARC's progress. India's message remains unequivocal: meaningful regional cooperation cannot take place in an environment polluted by cross-border terrorism. New Delhi frames the stagnation of SAARC not as a structural failure of regionalism, but as a direct consequence of one member state's continued support for terror networks and refusal to adhere to basic international norms.
Strategic Pivots: India's Emphasis on BIMSTEC and BBIN Sub-Regional Initiatives
Foreign policy analysts note that India has not abandoned regional integration, but has strategically redirected its focus toward more productive diplomatic avenues. Over recent years, India has invested heavily in alternative regional frameworks, most notably BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) and BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal initiative). A crucial geopolitical feature of both BIMSTEC and BBIN is the deliberate exclusion of Pakistan. India asserts that trade, energy distribution, transit corridors, and security mechanisms can move forward far more efficiently through these platforms. Consequently, while smaller neighbors urge the revival of SAARC, India remains firmly committed to bolstering these alternative arrangements.
Why Smaller Neighboring Nations Seek to Revive SAARC
For smaller nations like Maldives and Bangladesh, advocating for SAARC's reactivation is driven by strategic calculations rather than mere sentimentality. For a small island nation like Maldives, SAARC provides an institutional forum where its diplomatic voice carries equal weight. President Mohamed Muizzu seeks to position himself as a regional mediator while navigating complex geopolitical dynamics between India and China. Meanwhile, the new leadership in Bangladesh is actively restructuring its external relations. Amid growing diplomatic contacts with Pakistan, discussions on resuming direct flights, and potential defense talks, Dhaka views SAARC as a mechanism to assert an independent regional identity distinct from India's sphere of influence.
Pakistan's Counter-Allegations and the Uncertain Road Ahead for SAARC
On the other hand, Pakistan continuously accuses India of leveraging security concerns to derail the consensus-driven architecture of SAARC. Islamabad contends that India is politicizing regional cooperation and undermining the spirit of multilateralism. Furthermore, Pakistani diplomats argue that stalling SAARC deprives the smaller countries of the region of a crucial collective platform for economic integration and crisis management. Nevertheless, as long as India's fundamental security concerns regarding cross-border terrorism remain unaddressed by Islamabad, the prospects for reviving SAARC appear extraordinarily bleak. India's firm stance, combined with the steady momentum of alternative groupings like BIMSTEC, indicates that South Asian regionalism has irrevocably evolved, leaving SAARC in a state of indefinite geopolitical suspension.
