ABSTRACT
South Asia, a region of 1.3 billion people or one-fifth of the world’s population, comprises Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives. These countries are members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) (Figure 1.1). 1 The region accounts for about 3 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and approximately 1 percent of total world export volume, with strong market positions in sugar, cotton, manufacturing, and textiles, and, more recently, information technology. At the same time, South Asia has the largest concentration of poverty in the world, with human development indicators ranked among the lowest, and with five of its eight countries currently classified by the United Nations among the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). With the emergence of India as a regional economic and military power and with Pakistan acting as a frontline state for U.S. interests in the region, South Asia has taken on new prominence for the West since the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001 (9/11).
