By Sardar Khan Niazi
South Asia remains one of the world’s most culturally intertwined yet politically fragmented regions. From shared histories and languages to connected markets and migration routes, the subcontinent possesses every ingredient needed for meaningful cooperation. Yet, when one looks at the state of regionalism today, the promise of South Asian unity remains largely unrealized. For decades, SAARC, our most visible regional platform, has served more as a symbol than a driver of integration. Its meetings are irregular, its agenda hostage to bilateral tensions, and its institutional capacity far too thin to shape real outcomes. Where ASEAN moved from conflict to commerce, and the EU from rivalry to regional identity, South Asia seems stuck in perpetual mistrust. However, the story does not have to end here. South Asia is a region held back by politics, not potential. It is one of the least economically integrated regions in the world. Intra-regional trade hovers around a meagre fraction of overall commerce, even though estimates suggest it could triple if tariff and non-tariff barriers were reduced. Borders remain hardened, movement restricted, and cooperation sporadic. Yet the need for collective action is stronger today than ever before. Climate change is hitting South Asia with disproportionate force; water scarcity threatens future stability; and rapid urbanization demands cross-border strategies on energy, labor, and infrastructure. These are not challenges any single nation can solve in isolation. No region has such deep people-to-people connections as South Asia. Films, music, food, literature, even humor we share more than we differ. Millions watch the same dramas, read the same poets, and support the same cricket stars. However, cultural affinity has not translated into political will. Governments tend to focus on the rhetoric of sovereignty rather than the reality of shared vulnerabilities. The result is a region where citizens connect more easily than states do. Nowhere is this clearer than in the collapse of regional cooperation mechanisms. SAARC has been reduced to a museum piece, evoked only nostalgically. Despite sharing borders, cultures, markets and even public health vulnerabilities, South Asian states behave like distant continents. While other regions negotiate power through economic integration, South Asia negotiates through suspicion. And it is ordinary citizens who pay the price. If SAARC as an institution is too slow to adapt, it must not become an excuse for inaction. The region can explore flexible, interest-based coalitions: energy cooperation among willing partners, climate forums connecting Himalayan and coastal states, academic exchanges insulated from political cycles, and digital connectivity projects driven by private sectors. Regionalism does not have to be all-or-nothing. It can grow in layers, through practical steps and incremental trust building. For Pakistan, meaningful regional integration could be an economic lifeline. Access to broader markets, collaborative energy corridors, and knowledge exchange could support the country’s long-term stability. Pakistan must champion cooperation not as a gesture of goodwill, but as a strategic necessity. Across the region, development curves flatten every time political temperatures rise. Growth plans are shelved, foreign investment flees, and public discourse narrows to the language of security. The world’s most densely populated region, home to unmatched human potential, continues to punch far below its weight. South Asia’s greatest tragedy is not conflict. It is the stagnation conflict creates. Our region has the talent, the youth, the markets, and the shared heritage to thrive together. What we lack is the courage to break from old narratives. If South Asian regional cooperation is ever to move beyond speeches and summits, leaders must recognize a truth: no country in the region can afford to move forward alone. The future of South Asia lies in a choice, either we build together, or fall separately.
 | ReplyForwardAdd reaction |