Thread:
Has Covid-19 given India an opportunity to regain the goodwill lost in South Asia and revive regional institutions?

Here below are the detailed (not so optimistic) comments I sent in for this piece by Mandira Nayar 1/n
https://www.theweek.in/theweek/more/2020/04/04/neighbourhood-watch.html

Clarification: the emergency fund is NOT a SAARC initiative. There‘s a difference btw SAARC as an organization and punctual cooperation. The meetings / fund were called by PM Modi and so far it remains an initiative driven and coordinated by India. 2/n https://twitter.com/constantinox/status/1245658327800926209

Pakistan asked the fund to be placed under the SAARC Secretariat. This may be unacceptable but makes sense: would India have been comfortable contributibg to an adhoc emergency fund announced by Pakistan? SAARC has experience on public health, adopted 2015 Delhi Declaration. 3/n

Deeper challenge for India is the lack of institutional cooperation in South Asia — the current health emergency has made this even more apparent. BIMSTEC saw more activity since 2016, but remains a weak organization that is unable to offer any added value during this crisis. 4/n

Pakistan may be one reason why India became reluctant about SAARC and eventually gave up investing in it, but there is a deeper reluctance in Delhi to invest in stronger regional organizations to foster multilateral cooperation with its neighbours. 5/n

South Asia one of the few regions that lacks strong organizations. Modi’s welcome focus on neighbourhood first mostly at the bilateral level. India will be unable to pursue its regional interests without investing in stronger institutions, whether with or without Pakistan. 6/n

China supported India's neighbours with medical and financial relief. China's HADR opportunism strengthens its image as a reliable partner and its political influence to counter #ChinaLiedAndPeopleDied narrative. This will come at the expense of India’s role in the region.
/end