Revision summary
Regionness is shared political identity plus working institutions. South Asia has a dominant India, a blocked India–Pakistan pair, and Chinese alternatives for smaller States. SAARC consensus cannot produce EU-style spillover. Security is a conflict complex, not a community. BIMSTEC is a work-around that still does not make a South Asian region.
Model answer
Introduction
Regionness means a shared political identity and working regional institutions, as in the European Union’s dense law. South Asia has geography and some culture in common. It has not produced that political region.
Body
Structural reasons
- India is so much larger in economy, military, and population that neighbours fear a centre rather than join a club. Asymmetry is the first fact.
- India–Pakistan conflict over Kashmir, terrorism, and nuclear signalling blocks SAARC, which works by consensus.
- Extra-regional China offers arms, infrastructure, and political backing that lets smaller States hedge against India.
Identity and security
- Barry Buzan’s regional security complex idea fits: South Asia is a conflict formation, not a security community.
- Nationalisms, Partition memory, and majority–minority politics inside States make a thin regional “we.”
- Ethnic conflict and insurgency, treated in 5(d), spill across borders and poison trust.
Institutional thinness
- SAARC’s charter and the South Asian Free Trade Area did not create EU-style spillover. Mitrany’s functional path needs a political floor that is missing.
- BIMSTEC and the Bay of Bengal exclude Pakistan and still move slowly. They prove the demand for work-arounds, not the existence of regionness.
- People-to-people trade and culture exist. They have not been turned into a regional political community.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD A[Indian asymmetry] --> S[Weak SAARC] P[India Pakistan conflict] --> S C[China hedge] --> S S --> R[Low regionness]
Conclusion
South Asia lacks regionness because of Indian asymmetry, the India–Pakistan freeze, Chinese extra-regional pull, and conflictual identities. Geography is not a region in the EU sense without institutions and trust.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Why do ethnic conflicts and insurgencies continue to remain major impediments to regional co-operation in South Asia?
Next question on this syllabus topic (2023 · Q5(d)). View answer →
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Is culture enough to make a region?
Shared languages and religions exist across borders. Regionness in IR means political community and institutions, which South Asia has not built.
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Could connectivity create regionness later?
Functional links can help, as Mitrany argued. They have not overcome the security freeze so far.
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Insurgency and ethnic war in South Asia routinely cross borders. Sanctuary charges, refugees, and military alerts replace trade talks. SAARC and road-and-port plans stall on insecure stretches, including Afghanistan 2021 and Myanmar 2021. Domestic ethnic politics also block a regional “we.” Cooperation needs a security floor that these conflicts remove.
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Look East recast the north-east from a cul-de-sac to an ASEAN bridge. Kaladan, the IMT highway, and BIMSTEC are the hardware of that claim. Insurgency, drugs, and Myanmar’s coup are the security implications. Ecology and tribal land are the domestic social implications. Gains remain below promise until corridors actually run and stay safe.
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