Introduction

Beyond SAARC, sub-regional and trans-regional initiatives to foster economic cooperation represent two other dimensions of regionalism in South Asia. The politics behind the rise of sub-regionalism and transregionalism is significant because of their implications for SAARC. Arguably, they may be viewed either as complementary or dilutional to SAARC-led regionalism. Initiatives such as the South Asian Growth Quadrangle (SAGQ) or the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) initiative grew within the context of SAARC. Theoretically, there could be other growth triangles or quadrangles within SAARC, such as a growth triangle comprising Afghanistan, India and Pakistan in western South Asia or another one comprising India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka in the southern part of the region. Such initiatives can be viewed complementary to SAARC-centred regionalism.

On the other hand, the Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) are trans-regional initiatives to foster closer economic relations among the member states, which are different from the sub-regional bodies noted previously because they include states beyond the traditionally defined boundary of the South Asian region. Two key questions arise from this. What do they imply to regionalism conceived in SAARC? Are they complementary or dilutional to SAARC-centric regionalism?

This chapter has two key objectives. First, it explores the origins, aims and objectives, structures and dynamics of those sub-regional and trans-regional initiatives. Second, it illustrates their implications for SAARC-centred regionalism.

The South Asian Growth Quadrangle

Inspired by the success of the growth triangles in South East Asia, some South Asian states sought to take similar initiatives within SAARC in the 1990s to spur economic growth and reap benefits of greater economic interdependence. The SAGQ in eastern South Asia is such a sub-regional body within SAARC comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal which was approved by the SAARC Council of Ministers at a meeting in May 1996 in Male, the capital of the Maldives, and then it was formally endorsed at the 9th SAARC summit in April 1997.