Abstract Founded in 1985, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional organization that comprises of eight countries namely India, Pakistan, Seri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, and Afghanistan. Based on its charter, the key objectives are def
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Abstract Founded in 1985, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional organization that comprises of eight countries namely India, Pakistan, Seri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, and Afghanistan. Based on its charter, the key objectives are defined in the following terms: promotion of people welfare and quality of life; acceleration of economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region; appreciation of mutual trust and understanding; promotion of active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields; strengthening the cooperation among the member countries in international forums on matters of common interest; and to cooperate with international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes; and so on. Nevertheless, despite its organizing principles and sublime purposes, there have been several diverging issues within the associated region: territorial disputes (India and Pakistan or Afghanistan and Pakistan), interference of global powers, asymmetric power structure, interior instability within member states, and the strategic situation of South East Asia has posed problems on the realization of convergence and regionalism reflected in the SAARC agreements. The main question is what are the major effects of SAARC agreements in regionalism? This paper attempts to analyze such an agreements in terms of regional arrangements
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