SOUTH ASIA

1.in each country in our nbd, decades have been spent constructing xenophobic na
tinalism
2. every individual citizen is linked to family, caste, faith, language, culture
, state, and nation state. but we are south asians above all and this is the bro
adest identity that binds us all to our common past.
3. ultranationalism has to be challenged with a campaign for cross border loosen
ing.
4.SAARC was started in 1985 with an idea of promoting cross border regionalism b
y all national establishments, but it was unable to loosen frontiers or facilita
te commerce.
Instead,concertina wires came up along the india bangladesh and india pak div
iding lines.civil society efforts foundered and strain of nationalism proved ove
rpowering.SAARC formula was followed by considering the south asia as an agglome
ration od nation states rather than a wide habitat of diverse communities
REGIONALISM:
it should not presume a centralised south asia with single capital, currency and
administration .there are other ways to comprehend the space1. regarding bilateral/trilateral activities as regional
2. include myanmar n tibet even as they fall under adjacent regions
3. got to subunits of the two largets countries as fundamental components of r
egionalism
4. softening borders, easing visa regimes, lifting trade barriers==> improved
livelihoods in most deprived parts of subcontinent.
5. arc of poverty= from sunderban to sindh= home to world's poorest
6. cultural and historical continuity= bedrock for cooperation but its economi
c interdependence that builds trust.
7. connectivity= historical india had a ruler in 1500, sher shah suri who unde
rstood all advantages of connectivity from the populated expanse b/w brahmaputra
and indus, regularised grand trunk road from bengal to khyber (commerce has the
power to both enrich and bind)
FTAs
India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISL- FTA)
India-Nepal Treaty of Trade
India-Bhutan Agreement on Trade Commerce and Transit
environmental governance in south asia
india backed the establishment of south asian university and its campus in Ndelh
i
cultural ties do not stand a chance against ultranationalism (laced with regiona
l chauvinism) , only commercial meshing can generate hard stakeholders among inv
estors, industrialists, traders and service providers.
PM manmohan singh: breakest in amritsar, lunch in lahore and dinner in kabul
South Asian unity is essential if we are to deliver an improved quality of life
to millions through growth made possible by economic effeciencies and commerce.
we have to do what is good for the people at large rather than nation states and
capitals.