ABSTRACT
The leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member states hoped that the Association would establish much-needed confidence-building measures (CBMs), as reflected in the First SAARC Summit declaration: 'periodic meetings at their level were central to the promotion of mutual trust, confidence, and cooperation among their countries'. This chapter explores the extent to which the growing cooperation in human security areas has paved the way for meaningful cooperation in other forms of security, such as transnational crimes, at SAARC. However, the scope of the chapter is limited to the analysis of the transnational crimes, namely, terrorism, drug smuggling, and human trafficking, against which SAARC has initiated cooperation. It was at the First SAARC Summit that the heads of state agreed to explore the possibilities of cooperation against terrorism by acknowledging that this problem affects the 'security and stability' of the members.
