The process of European integration despite the difficulties it presents, can, arguably, constitute a paradigm for the integration processes that take place in other parts of the world. Such a process is the integration of South Asia. ELIAMEP organized a closed discussion with H.E. Ambassador Mohamed Mijarul Quayes, Secretary General of the Minitry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, to discuss how does the region of South Asia interfaces with the process of European integration and to present an assessment of any comparisons that can be drawn from the dynamics of integration in the region.

The history of the region and its aftermath

What is called today South Asia is fundamentally the region that comprises the colonial British India. Nevertheless, the history of the states that emerged following the departure of Britain differs. India and Pakistan declared their independence one day apart and emerged directly from the anti-colonial struggle. Bangladesh was separated from Pakistan in 1971 following a short war of independence. These largely traumatic processes according to the Ambassador are part of the region’s recent history and have a significant effect on all efforts of integration functioning both as an impediment as well as a drive towards integration. The first step to that direction was taken in 1985 with the Dhaka Declaration between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, however, cooperation in the region remains jealously nationalistic

The paradigm of the EU

The gradual development of Europe from the emergence of a European state-system at the time pf the Treaty of Westphalia to today’s European Union offers an optimal example of integration that went beyond the difficult historical past and despite the difficulties that the ‘European project” presents over time.  From the point of view of the ‘outsider’ the development of the EU constitutes a model that can be adapted in other parts of the world including South Asia. There are different lessons to be learned from the process of European integration.

a)      History is no impediment to moving forward towards enhanced cooperation and integration;

b)      Integration needs to emerge as an organic process;

c)      The concept of pulled sovereignty and the European acquis communautaire are two novelties that have allowed the process of integration to progress and can be modeled;

d)      The promotion of the “Europe of the Regions” is a collective European guarantee for the protection of the cultures and nationalities of Europe, also guaranteeing that smaller nations especially will continue having a presence and a voice within the Community system.

Is there a future to integration in South Asia?

It is essential that the region makes the intellectual leap that will lead it towards a free trade agreement and ultimately an economic union. While the parallel track of political integration remains underdeveloped, the paradigm of Europe is applicable, both in its positive aspects with the set of humanitarian values that lay in its core as well as in its negative aspects with the democratic deficit that characterizes it. South Asia is heading towards integration, at least in economic terms. Political integration in South Asia while distant as a project, may be possible within a wider frame of the post-welfare state, the development of civic societies and the necessary safeguards for the less mainstream cultures that follow it.