Introduction

Bangladesh, after pursuing several years of informal and semi-formal diplomacy for regional cooperation, formally approached the six South Asian states (Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) to establish an ‘ASEAN-like’ association in South Asia in May 1980. In response to the proposal, the six South Asian states asked Bangladesh to prepare a working paper on regional cooperation. The Bangladesh government in November 1980 circulated a draft document, entitled ‘A Paper on the Proposal for Regional Cooperation in South Asia’. Afterwards, a series of meetings of foreign secretaries and foreign ministers took place in which various aspects of the organization and probable areas of cooperation were worked out. This initial process was culminated into the formal launching of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) at the first ever summit of the seven South Asian states in Dhaka in December 1985. Following it, various initiatives were undertaken to consolidate the modalities of SAARC, which roughly continued until 1992. The period from 1980 to 1992 is conceived as the ‘formative phase’ of the body. The organization strived to find a direction, identify probable areas of cooperation and build an institutional structure during this period.

Notwithstanding inherent tension and reservations expressed by the regional states when the idea was mooted, as discussed in the preceding chapter, they agreed to establish SAARC in the mid-1980s. There was the initial excitement that the organization would deliver concrete benefits to the member states and create a peaceful regional environment. A rapid expansion of the agenda of cooperation could be evidenced in the initial years following the formal launching of the body. SAARC also concluded several important conventions to deal with the pressing issues of the region during this period. A permanent secretariat was established in 1987 in Kathmandu for the coordination of SAARC's activities.

While the activities and the expanding agenda of cooperation reflected the potential of the organization, an undercurrent of tension within the grouping did continue. As discussed in the preceding chapter, the preliminary interactions and exchanges to build SAARC revealed strong mutual mistrust and inherent tension among the regional states owing to a variety of reasons. The smaller states of the region initially had two apparently contradictory perspectives about the association.