New Delhi: The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has been in a coma since 2014, but sub-regional cooperation has increased between the countries in South Asia, Swarnim Wagle, a member of parliament in Nepal, said Monday.
Wagle was speaking at the launch of the World Bank report, Good Neighbours: Advancing Regional Integration, Cooperation and Engagement in South Asia, at the India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi.
Wagle said the plan to export energy produced by Nepal to Bangladesh via India is the “perfect example of trilateral partnership” in South Asia. The political climate now enables such sub-regional cooperation, he added.
“In the last decade or so, there has been a tripling in the energy trade, for example, between Nepal, India and Bangladesh, which is a sign of the sub-regional cooperation seen in South Asia,” said Wagle at the launch.
“We do want to extend this [energy] partnership to Bangladesh. We have the ability [to produce energy], Bangladesh has the need, and now India needs to mediate it. India has been much more positive in this direction. India has mentioned a start with 60 megawatts of transactions,” he later told ThePrint.
In June 2023, the India and Nepal governments announced that India would be importing 10,000 MW of power from Kathmandu in the next decade. The announcement came during the India visit of Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.
During that visit, Prachanda also announced that 60 MW of hydropower will be exported to Bangladesh through India. In September 2023, Nepal’s envoy to India Shankar Prasad Sharma said the tripartite agreement was in its final stages.
Also read: Modi, Prachanda announce 10-year power trade deal between India & Nepal, sign 7 agreements
India can be engine of growth for South Asia
India, without too much effort, could become the “engine of growth for the entire region”, said Shyam Saran, the former foreign secretary of India and current IIC president, in a fireside chat with Cecile Fruman, the director of the South Asia Regional Integration and Engagement at the World Bank.
“I believe that India cannot aspire to a larger regional Asian role or a global role unless it gets its neighbourhood right,” said Saran. India “must take” the lead in building up the economic integration in the region, he added.
“It was (then) prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who put forth the vision of one South Asia. It is a vision in front of us, with which I hope we can move forward,” added Saran.
Saran was speaking on the need for enhanced regional integration between the countries in South Asia, a “shared historical and cultural” place, albeit divided into sovereign nations.
Good Neighbours highlights 10 cross-border stories, showcasing regional cooperation, including in sectors such as medicine, businesses, scientific research and music.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also read: Nepal seeks grants, not loans, from China and India for development, says envoy
Important thing to notice. Both Nepal & Srilanka have stressed on the Importance of SAARC. India too has re approached it during COVID, but clearly much stronger stance is needed