Costs of non-cooperation in South Asia: an illustration and way forward

Costs of non-cooperation in South Asia: an illustration and way forward

Published Jan 2016

Author

R.U. Das

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The South Asian economic integration has remained afflicted with a narrative that is more often than not a negative one. As a part of this, the arguments put forth include the assertion that the region lacks in trade complementarities due to similarities in production structures. Therefore, the region can only compete in
products and there is limited scope for intra-regional trade.
 
The effect of such an argument is enormous. It has apparently led to a tendency to neglect trade integration in South Asia let alone adopting a comprehensive approach towards it, whereby trade in goods, trade in services and investment are sought to be regionally integrated simultaneously. Pakistan’s consistent postponement of Most Favoured Nations (MFN) status to India and Sri Lanka’s ever evasive approach towards Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) are but two glaring examples. The examples of Pakistan and Sri Lanka are deliberate as they both are the only two non-LDCs (Least Developed Countries) apart from India in the region.

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