Regional Integration or Disintegration: An Appraisal of the Current Trends in South Asia

Abstract

South Asia that once formed a single administrative, political and economic union under the British
rule underwent divisions on religious, political and ethnic basis. The divisions were reinforced due to
ideological differences and political problems among the regional states in the post-independence era.
A number of Indian leaders and scholars term partition of India a grave mistake and argue to mend it
through creation of a South Asian union by using the platform of South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC). This paper scrutinizes the prospects of creation of any such union through
analyzing the ongoing integrative and disintegrative trends in the region. It utilizes qualitative and
analytical approach through relying on available secondary sources to investigate if the centrifugal
forces causing partition of India have either receded over the years or otherwise. The study finds that
all regional states more or less continue to face secessionist movements of diverse nature and intensity
and they are likely to consolidate their sovereignty and control at home instead of pursuing any
grandiose goals of political or economic union in South Asia.