Members push to revive SAARC, but India holds firm

SAARC stands for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. It is a regional bloc bringing eight South Asian countries together to address shared challenges through cooperation. Its importance comes from the chance to build dialogue, connectivity and mutual understanding across a region marked by political tensions.

The members are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They agreed to work through a common regional organisation, but SAARC decisions require unanimous consent. That rule means every member’s position matters, especially when India and Pakistan disagree.

The bloc’s last summit was held in Kathmandu on November 26-27, 2014. Several members now support reviving it, including the Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. India supports greater South Asian connectivity but has shown no willingness to proceed with another SAARC summit.

SAARC has gone 12 years without holding a summit, according to the article. The last summit took place in Kathmandu on November 26-27, 2014. Summits are important because they bring the eight member governments together for high-level discussion and regional decisions.

During those 12 years, six summits would ordinarily have been held. Instead, the planned 19th summit in Islamabad never happened. The interruption shows how a regional organisation can lose momentum when its members cannot agree on basic political conditions for meeting.

Nepal has chaired SAARC since the 2014 summit and has repeatedly tried to restart the organisation. Recent appeals from the Maldives and other members have created renewed interest. However, India has reiterated that circumstances have not changed enough for another summit, so the bloc remains paralysed.

The 19th SAARC summit was scheduled for Islamabad in November 2016. It did not take place after an attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri, in Indian-administered Kashmir, killed 18 Indian soldiers on September 18, 2016. The attack sharply worsened India-Pakistan relations.

India blamed Pakistan for the attack and announced that it would not attend the Islamabad summit. Because a summit requires the participation and agreement of the member states, India’s withdrawal derailed the meeting. The planned gathering was never rescheduled successfully.

Relations have not improved since then. Tensions escalated again in April and May 2025 after an attack in Pahalgam killed 26 tourists. India launched air strikes in Pakistan retaliated, and the two countries later agreed to a ceasefire after United States mediation. India still says conditions are unsuitable for another summit.

India and Pakistan blame each other because their security conflict has become the central political dispute inside SAARC. India says Pakistan remains involved in terrorist activities and that conditions have not changed enough to hold another summit. Pakistan rejects that explanation and says India is deliberately blocking the organisation.

The disagreement became decisive in 2016. After the Uri attack, India blamed Pakistan and withdrew from the planned Islamabad summit. Pakistan later said India had held SAARC hostage since 2016. India’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, said Pakistan was responsible for the obstacles to SAARC.

The result is a continuing stalemate. Other members, including the Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, have expressed support for revival. India supports greater regional connectivity but has shown no willingness to proceed with a summit. Pakistan, as the scheduled host, continues seeking support from other members.

SAARC’s unanimous-consent rule means decisions require agreement from all eight members. This design can protect every country’s interests, but it also gives each member an effective veto. If one government refuses to support a meeting or decision, the bloc cannot move forward collectively.

The 2016 crisis shows how this works. The next summit was scheduled for Islamabad, but India withdrew after blaming Pakistan for the Uri attack. Without India’s participation, the summit was derailed. Pakistan now argues that India has held SAARC hostage, while India says Pakistan is responsible for the organisation’s paralysis.

The rule makes political trust essential. Since India and Pakistan remain locked in a security dispute, either can reject the other’s preferred path. Other members have called for revival, and Nepal has repeatedly tried to restart SAARC, but unanimous agreement remains a major barrier to action.

If SAARC is revived, South Asian governments would regain a common forum for dialogue and regional cooperation. The Maldives’ president said collective efforts could address regional challenges, while India has expressed support for greater connectivity. A functioning bloc could also help members rebuild trust and mutual understanding.

The mechanism would be regular summits and cooperation among all eight members. Such meetings could create space for diplomacy even when bilateral relations remain tense. The Maldives has offered to help create conditions for a summit, and Nepal has repeatedly tried to restart the organisation. Other members have also publicly supported revival.

If SAARC remains frozen, the bloc will continue to lose momentum. Its members will lack the high-level forum the organisation was meant to provide, while India-Pakistan rivalry remains unresolved. Diplomats caution that statements alone will not be enough. India’s position will be decisive because another summit requires agreement among all members.

Countries create regional organisations to address shared challenges collectively. These bodies provide regular meetings, diplomatic channels and ways to improve connections among neighbouring states. In SAARC’s case, members have linked revival with dialogue, trust, mutual understanding and greater regional connectivity.

Cooperation becomes difficult when members see one another as security threats. India and Pakistan disagree over responsibility for attacks, terrorism and the organisation’s paralysis. The 2016 Uri attack led India to withdraw from the planned summit. The 2025 Pahalgam attack then triggered air strikes, retaliation and a ceasefire after United States mediation.

SAARC’s unanimous-consent requirement makes these disputes especially damaging. Every member must agree before the organisation can act, so unresolved conflict can stop a summit or decision. The article shows that most members support revival, but cooperation will remain limited unless India and Pakistan can overcome their deep rivalry and rebuild trust.