ABSTRACT
South Asia, despite having tremendous prospects for development and growth, hosts the world’s largest concentration of poverty. Causes of underdevelopment as well as the ways to regional progress have been well recognized. However, a regional misfortune is that none of the states in the region act and take seriously commencement for collective growth. In the past 33 years after the inception of SAARC as a regional body, this region has not been able to lessen the collective problems. Rather, wide-spread poverty, political turmoil, poor connectivity, insurgencies and terrorism, natural disasters, mutual distrust and suspicion have become the identity of South Asia. India holds a position as the de-facto guardian and mentor; therefore, it must take the lead to enhance the mutual trust and create a more promising future in the region. In the past eighteen summits, a couple of agreements and conventions have been signed, covering aspects related to trade, development and social welfare. However, when it comes to the implementation, SAARC has remained dismally poor compared to its counterparts like the EU, ASEAN and many others. This question of under-performance lies at the heart of the debate concerning the future of SAARC.
