The Role of Pakistan in Shaping Regional Stability: A Critical Analysis of SAARC's Effectiveness in Promoting Peace and Cooperation in South Asia

Abstract

In this study, the participation of Pakistan in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is studied with regard to its capacity to shape regional stability. Then it critically analyzes how much Pakistan does in the SAARC’s sense as a means to achieve its goals of economic cooperation, peacebuilding, and security in South Asia in view of its political tensions with India. Political and security challenges have prevented Pakistan from actively engaging in regional security endeavors and humanitarian cooperation, thereby obstructing the organization's utility. The paper illustrates that barring the political issues, SAARC has successfully been involved in disaster relief and health activities, but in other areas, like economic and security arrangements, there is a lack of consensus due to bilateral issues between Pakistan and India. The study indicates that long-term stability with the SAARC does not depend on any political cooperation; rather, it needs to concentrate on the non-political cooperation and, simultaneously, try to reconcile the underlying political tensions.