ABSTRACT
South Asia is among the poorest regions of the world. But countries of the region – especially India and Pakistan – have a high level of military expenditure. Both the countries are nuclear armed which adds to their defense budget. South Asia comprises eight nations: India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the island nations Sri Lanka and the Maldives. South Asia is a nuclear-armed region, with both India and Pakistan having more than 100 nuclear weapons each. All South Asian countries have numerous internal problems relating to economic development, health, education, poverty and hunger. The concept of health being a social responsibility, however, has taken a backseat. This started in 1970s. After the shift to a neoliberal economy in the 1990s, the predominance of structural adjustment programmes accelerated the process of transforming healthcare into a totally corporate-driven enterprise. The peace movements have multifaceted tasks ahead. They have to build strong public opinion for disarmament while relating it to development.
