Table Of Content

SAGE was founded in 1965 by Sara Miller McCune to support the dissemination of usable knowledge by publishing innovative and high-quality research and teaching content. Today, we publish over 900 journals, including those of more than 400 learned societies, more than 800 new books per year, and a growing range of library products including archives, data, case studies, reports, and video. SAGE remains majority-owned by our founder, and after Sara’s lifetime will become owned by a charitable trust that secures our continued independence. Los Angeles | London | New Delhi | Singapore | Washington DC | Melbourne Thank you for choosing a SAGE product! If you have any comment, observation or feedback, I would like to personally hear from you. Please write to me at [email protected] Vivek Mehra, Managing Director and CEO, SAGE India. Bulk Sales SAGE India offers special discounts for purchase of books in bulk. We also make available special imprints and excerpts from our books on demand. For orders and enquiries, write to us at Marketing Department SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B1/I-1, Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area Mathura Road, Post Bag 7 New Delhi 110044, India E-mail us at [email protected] Get to know more about SAGE Be invited to SAGE events, get on our mailing list. Write today to [email protected] This book is also available as an e-book. India International Centre IIC WINTER 2014 SPRING 2015 Quarterly I S S N N O . 0 3 7 6 - 9 7 7 1 THIRTY YEARS OF SAARC Copyright © India International Centre, 2016. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. First published in 2016 by SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B1/I-1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area Mathura Road, New Delhi 110 044, India www.sagepub.in SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320, USA SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver’s Yard, 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP, United Kingdom SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd 3 Church Street #10-04 Samsung Hub Singapore 049483 Published by Vivek Mehra for SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd, typeset in 10.5/12.5 pt Berkeley by Zaza Eunice, Hosur, Tamil Nadu, India and printed at Chaman Enterprises, New Delhi. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available ISBN: 978-93-515-0881-6 (PB) The SAGE Team: Supriya Das, Isha Sachdeva and Ritu Chopra iv CONTENTS Foreword KARAN SINGH Preface OMITA GOYAL Introduction Towards New Beginnings in South Asia RAJIV KUMAR CHAPTERS Chapter 1 Reviewing Regional Cooperation in South Asia 01 ERIC GONSALVES Chapter 2 Afghanistan, SAARC and the Road Ahead 12 HAROUN MIR, HABIB WARDAK Chapter 3 Changing Face: The Trials and Fortunes of Regional Cooperation under SAARC 25 SAMAN KELEGAMA Chapter 4 SAARC and Economic Cooperation 42 AMITA BATRA Chapter 5 South Asia’s Mounting Ecological Challenge: Regional Cooperation is the Only Answer 53 SHYAM SARAN Chapter 6 South Asian Cooperation: Towards a Humane World 65 AKMAL HUSSAIN v THIRTY YEARS OF SAARC Chapter 7 The Significance of SAARC for Bhutan 78 RAJESH KHARAT Chapter 8 Peace, Security and Threats: A Balance Sheet 91 NIHAL RODRIGO Chapter 9 Politics in Pakistan Today: The Challenge of Securing Democracy 96 RASUL BAKHSH RAIS Chapter 10 Nepal’s Policy towards SAARC 109 SANGEETA THAPLIYAL Chapter 11 Bangladesh in SAARC: Identity Issues and Perspectives 120 SANJAY K. BHARDWAJ Chapter 12 Nepal, SAARC and Southasia 134 KANAK MANI DIXIT Chapter 13 India, Pakistan and ‘Southasia’ 143 BEENA SARWAR Chapter 14 Anxieties of SAARC: An Experiential Reading through South Asian University 153 SASANKA PERERA Chapter 15 Developing a Regional Human Rights Mechanism 163 AISHATH VELEZINEEARTICLES Chapter 16 South Asian Regionalism: A People’s Movement Perspective 170 RAKHI SEHGAL Chapter 17 Sewa’s Sister-to-Sister Initiative for Peace and Work 176 REEMA NANAVATY Chapter 18 Trafficking and Vulnerabilities of Children and Women: An Analysis 183 ANURADHA KOIRALA vi Contents Chapter 19 South Asian Literatures: Beyond Borders, across Boundaries 196 NAMITA GOKHALE, MALASHRI LAL Chapter 20 Speaking the Unspeakable or the Limits of Representability 209 FIRDOUS AZIM Chapter 21 A Broken Shard: Sri Lankan Writings in English 218 ASHOK FERREY Chapter 22 Human Rights beyond the State: Generating Spaces for Rights in Society 225 AFSAN CHOWDHURY, ZERRIN AFZA, NABALESWAR DEWAN Chapter 23 Diversity Management in SAARC Countries 239 FAIZAN MUSTAFA ABOUT THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS 252 vii