Saarc has so far achieved no remarkable success except holding meeting after meeting at different levels. Although, we cannot find any remarkable success of Saarc in terms of expectations of the huge population of the eight member countries, the inherent problems are well identified by now. Ideological conflicts, economic imbalance, big brotherly attitude, external influence and lack of leadership qualities are some of the major hurdles standing on the way of achieving any significant progress. The

future is not bright either.

Location wise Saarc countries are closer to each other but they are very different when it comes to priorities. Keeping the same format of Saarc, it would be very difficult to achieve its goals. I think it is time to redefine the goals of Saarc to meet the challenge of religious, cultural and political diversity. Saarc can perhaps be divided into two groups. The group A should include India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan; and the group B should include Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and

Maldives. There might be some other good formula to bring basic structural changes in Saarc, its composition, goal, strategy and input to get the desired output from regional cooperation.

It is no use loading this sinking ship with tnore observers and members. Give a new and serious thought to these issues, instead of holding any more annual or bi-annual meeting. I might sound very negative, but is there any reason why we should be optimistic?

A reader, On e-mail