MORE South Asian summit conferences have been postponed than held. Today, the leaders of the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation meet in Kathmandu for the 18th time, with the end result likely to be anything but spectacular.

Formed in 1985 with seven members, Saarc now has grown to include Afghanistan, which has yet to endorse the Durand Line as its international border with another member country — Pakistan.

Even leaving aside this problem, and the perpetually tense Pakistan-India relationship, Saarc has collectively failed to make any progress. Besides the geopolitical issues, there are some structural problems with the organisation.

Also read: Saarc summitry

The European Union, for instance, has many big and small economies yet has managed to evolve successful institutions promoting a common agenda.

Closer to South Asia, Asean is again composed of economies of varying sizes. But members have an equal voice and that has contributed to the regional group’s success. In Saarc’s case, the size of India’s economy is more than the combined economies of all other members.

This would present a difficult challenge for economic and social integration, made worse by the fact that literacy rates in South Asian countries are low. The EU has a single currency, and Asean is thinking along those lines, but the very thought of Saarc having a common currency at this point in time appears far-fetched

A review of Saarc’s activities reveals it has little positive to show, because South Asian governments have displayed lack of both vision and courage to overcome the obstacles. What Saarc leaders fail to realise is that globalisation is not possible without a high degree of regionalisation.

If they really want to pull their peoples out of the morass of poverty and ignorance, regional integration must be part of national development strategies. Saarc’s charter makes it clear that “the objectives of peace, freedom, social justice and economic prosperity are best achieved in the South Asian region by fostering mutual understanding, good neighbourly relations and meaningful cooperation ....” Regretfully, at present, Saarc is hardly more than a debating club.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014