Update on CNSA Research : Regional Cooperation in South Asia

News report to be published are as follows :

29 August 2023

The Centre for New South Asia (CNSA), in collaboration with Pokhara Research Centre, a Nepalese think tank is currently engaging in a research project entitled ‘Regional Cooperation in South Asia’. This project seeks to provide a comprehensive causal analysis about the prospects and challenges of Regional Cooperation vis-à-vis South Asia based on the interviews conducted with Practitioners and Scholars from India and Nepal.

The on-going research is conducted by Coordinator of Centre for a New South Asia Mr. Aarogya Mohan Kaphle (BAGA’22) under the supervision of Centre Director Prof. Mohsin Raza Khan. As a part of research, interviews with former ambassadors from India and Nepal was conducted including the Former Foreign Minister of Nepal Dr. Bhesh Bahadur Thapa and Former India’s Foreign Secretary Mr. Shyam Saran. From this news report, we would like to share some of the snippets and key takeaways from those interviews which are as follows.

1.  Mr. Shyam Saran

Former Foreign secretary of India Mr. Shyam Saran said that any regional cooperation will require a greater physical connectivity among the countries. Beside this, digital connectivity and people-to-people relations are also crucial. He believes that India, the largest country of the region could lead in terms of many agendas. As far as policy is concerned, he said there are studies on inter basin river management, cross border wildlife corridors, overfishing in coastal regions and forest conversation. Also, there are large number of recommendation as well as declaration by SAARC head of states. So, he emphasized that rather than looking for fresh recommendation and studies, if the past proposals and declaration were implemented that could be a big change.

2. Dr. Madan Kumar Bhattarai

Former Foreign Secretary of Nepal Dr. Madan Kumar Bhattrai opines that mutual trust and goodwill are the prerequisite for any regional cooperation. He said that ‘South Asia can take lessons from ASEAN and identify its core areas of cooperation as per potential of countries.’ Giving example from the past, he mentioned the initiation of International Jute Study Group based in Dhaka which is precedent of economic cooperation South Asian countries. Ambassador Bhattarai said that identifying potential areas and developing ‘Growth Quadrangle’ accordingly would always be in the best interest of South Asia.

3. Prof. Dr. Jayaraj Acharya

Former Fellow of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at the Harvard University and Former Nepal’s Ambassador to the United Nations Prof. Dr. Jayaraj Acharya is of the view that there is a greater scope of Trilateral Cooperation for Nepal’s Foreign Policy. For Nepal, it’s geographic proximity is significant factor for regional cooperation in South Asia. He particularly emphasized on Maritime Transport Access of Nepal with Bangladesh and India. Moreover, there is scope of electricity trade with Bangladesh, Bhutan, and India. Dr. Acharya mentioned that Nepal should negotiate first bilaterally in agendas relating to the trade and transit, and afterwards place it in the trilateral structure. According to him, practical matters like electricity export and electricity transmission could be done through bilateral and trilateral means because it’s very comprehensive and vague in the regional process.

4. Dr. Bhesh Bahadur Thapa

Former Nepal’s Foreign Minister Dr. Bhesh Bahadur Thapa said economic disparities among the countries have occasionally setback regional cooperation in the South Asia. According to him these complex economic dynamics led two factors into play. There are big countries like India and Pakistan in the region which affected the operation of regional institution in many ways. The bilateral relations between India and Pakistan are one of those important aspects.  On the other hand, there is a fear of smaller nation gang-up for regional power. Recalling the historical initiatives took by then leaders of Nepal and Bangladesh, he mentioned that since the inception of SAARC smaller countries saw their interest in the regional cooperation for the larger benefit. Sharing his past anecdotes, he also mentioned that the intellectual backing is comparatively weak in South Asia as compared to the past.

This is an on-going project, and we are still conducting interviews with scholars and diplomats of both countries. Stay tuned and keep following the Centre website for further details regarding the project.

The comprehensive analysis about the conducted research will be disclosed in the research paper which will be released after a few months.

Thank you !

– The Centre for A New South Asia

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