Strengthening the Development Partnership between the EU and South Asia: A Contemporary Analysis

The relations between European Union (EU) and South Asia are not new. However, South Asia is one of the fastest growing economies of the world; the EU’s development policy has given less attention to this region. This paper aims to elucidate and evaluate the EU engagement towards South Asia through development policy and generate an argument on reasons for the EU to strengthen its strategy in the region. Pursuing its comprehensive attention towards the region, the EU intends to address different development- related challenges under its ‘Agenda for Change’ initiation. The main question addressed in this research is ‘Why South Asia is important for the EU?’ The discussion below attempts to incorporate empirical analysis regarding challenges and prospects for the EU in the region. In terms of theoretical approach, this paper follows a neoliberal perspective to analyse the EU development policy. The main findings of the research is that however the EU has strengthened its development partnership with South Asia, the EU is still not considered as a main actor in the region.