Beyond SAARC: Sub-Regional and Trans-Regional Cooperation

This chapter analyses sub-regional and trans-regional cooperation that has developed within the framework of SAARC and beyond and their implications for South Asian regionalism. Within the framework of SAARC, the South Asian Growth Quadrangle (SAGQ) which came to be known as ‘Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal’ (BBIN) initiative was approved in the 1997 Male summit. To support the sub-regional initiative, the Asian Development Bank initiated the ‘South Asian Sub-regional Cooperation’ (SASEC). Beyond SAARC, the ‘Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar Economic Corridor’ (BCIM-EC) and the ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC) have emerged which are trans-national in character. These initiatives have got implications for SAARC-led regionalism which are analysed in this chapter.