Indias Engagement with SAARC
Indias Engagement with SAARC
India's Engagement in SAARC In December 1985, seven South Asian countries – Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh – adopted the charter formally establishing the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). With Afghanistan joining the organisation in 2007, SAARC comprised of eight members. SAARC member cooperation among others were in the area of agriculture and rural, biotechnology, culture, energy, environment, economy and trade, finance, funding mechanism, human resource development, poverty alleviation, people to people contact, security aspects, social development, science and technology, communications, and tourism. The SAARC Preferential Trading Agreement (SAPTA) signed in April 1993 in Dhaka paved way to the Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA). SAFTA was signed by all the member states during the twelfth 'SAARC Summit' held in Islamabad January 04-06, 2004, and came into force from January 01, 2006. India's deepening ties with SAARC is reflected in the continued buoyancy in its bilateral trade. India's total trade with SAARC increased more than five-fold from US$ 3 billion in 2002-03 to US$ 17.4 billion in 2012-13. During the last five-year period (i.e. 2008-09 to 2012-13), exports grew at an average rate of 15.6 percent, while imports grew at an average rate of 10.9 percent Bangladesh is India's largest trading partner in the SAARC followed by Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan. India has strengthened its bilateral links with its neighbors by signing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka and a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Afghanistan. India has also taken several measures, both bilaterally and under SAFTA, to facilitate trade in the region. A major breakthrough being the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status given to India by Pakistan in 2011, a catalyst to the intra-SAARC trade. India allows duty free access to goods from Nepal, Bhutan,
India's Engagement in SAARC In December 1985, seven South Asian countries – Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh – adopted the charter formally establishing the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). With Afghanistan joining the organisation in 2007, SAARC comprised of eight members. SAARC member cooperation among others were in the area of agriculture and rural, biotechnology, culture, energy, environment, economy and trade, finance, funding mechanism, human resource development, poverty alleviation, people to people contact, security aspects, social development, science and technology, communications, and tourism. The SAARC Preferential Trading Agreement (SAPTA) signed in April 1993 in Dhaka paved way to the Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA). SAFTA was signed by all the member states during the twelfth 'SAARC Summit' held in Islamabad January 04-06, 2004, and came into force from January 01, 2006. India's deepening ties with SAARC is reflected in the continued buoyancy in its bilateral trade. India's total trade with SAARC increased more than five-fold from US$ 3 billion in 2002-03 to US$ 17.4 billion in 2012-13. During the last five-year period (i.e. 2008-09 to 2012-13), exports grew at an average rate of 15.6 percent, while imports grew at an average rate of 10.9 percent Bangladesh is India's largest trading partner in the SAARC followed by Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan. India has strengthened its bilateral links with its neighbors by signing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka and a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Afghanistan. India has also taken several measures, both bilaterally and under SAFTA, to facilitate trade in the region. A major breakthrough being the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status given to India by Pakistan in 2011, a catalyst to the intra-SAARC trade. India allows duty free access to goods from Nepal, Bhutan,