INTRODUCTION
The South Asia remains the most populous yet the least connected region. This is not due to lack of mechanisms of regional cooperation, such as South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), but due to India’s unilateral measures that limit regional cooperation and connectivity. While touting a global image, regionally, India has pursued strategic disengagement and avoided inclusive regionalism.[1] India’s strategic choice to marginalize SAARC due to Pakistan’s membership and promote alternative forums, such as the BIMSTEC, as its preferred framework for regional engagement. The purpose of such an approach remains to isolate Pakistan from regional cooperation mechanisms. While on the contrary, Pakistan has constantly reiterated its commitment to peace, dialogue and revival of SAARC. This issue brief contends that such exclusionary approaches weakens the region’s cooperative architecture, and meaningful cooperation mechanism in South Asia would not be possible without Pakistan’s involvement.
