ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explores that South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) provides South Asia with opportunities to work together in a spirit of accommodation, mutual understanding, shared responsibility, and cooperation. Researchers tend to evaluate the progress of SAARC, in comparison to other regional organisations, without considering the unique circumstances and the age of this forum. SAARC was set up 28 years after the birth of the European Community and 18 years after the establishment of ASEAN, and one decade after ECOWAS was created. There are several inherent challenges to regionalism in South Asia. With reference to history, the legacy of mistrust has been constraining the processes of cooperation and peace in the region. Regional security has suffered due to the consequences of the bloody partition of 1947, the IndiaPakistan rivalry, and the Cold War.
