Critical Geopolitics Applied: The Competing Indian and Pakistani Perceptions of SAARC

SAARC is the only intergovernmental organisation that mends the socio-political fault line between India and Pakistan. The question arises why both sides continue the project in view of persistent tension. ‘Critical Geopolitics’ offers a fresh analytical perspective to understand the competing perceptions of SAARC as a geo-political space. After diluting its strict Monroe doctrine-like stance towards the region, India now perceives SAARC as the multilateral umbrella which reflects the country’s own self-understanding of ‘unity in diversity’. For Pakistan, however, the accession of Afghanistan has weakened the aspirations of acting as a regional advocate for West Asia. It is in this field of tension between Indian and Pakistani self-understanding, and the diverging perceptions of SAARC that an enormous potential for future cooperation as well as antagonism can arise. Critical geopolitics is the analytical tool to evaluate future opportunities and challenges of that relationship for South Asia and beyond.