JBS Vol 14. Num 2. 2012 - Regional Connectivity in South Asia: Essential for Regional Economic Cooperation

The second half of the last century saw the emergence of a number of regional and sub-regional economic cooperative arrangements among countries, across the globe. The realization that no nation, big or small, rich or poor, can fully realize its potential in political and economic terms by seeking to work in isolation led to the formation of such regional economic cooperative arrangements. In a  globalized economy, transport cost being a significant determinant of competitiveness, an integrated and efficient transport network is an essential element of the enabling environment. The integrated transport infrastructure which South Asia inherited from Britain, was fractured initially by the partition of India, and subsequently by its political aftermath and now needs to be integrated again. Such integration is especially crucial to countries such as Nepal and Bhutan and the territory of North-East India, to provide shorter transport connectivity and convenient access to the outside world. Although South Asia has been one of the fastest growing economic regions in the world, analysis revealed that intraregional trade was still around 5% of the total trade, despite the fact that tremendous potential exists to enhance such trade. This requires the political environment to become supportive and the transportation network to be integrated and further improved. The paper, therefore, reviewed the present state of transport connectivity in the sub-region comprising Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan. It highlights the adverse consequences of non-cooperation in transport connectivity in South Asia, and discusses earlier initiatives that were taken by UN-ESCAP and SAARC to promote regional connectivity. The paper then focused on the recent initiative i.e. the impact of the joint communiqué signed between Bangladesh and India which was a real break to open up regional connectivity in Northeastern sub-region of South Asia. The paper also highlights the findings of a number of studies which were undertaken as a follow up of the Joint Communique to assess the benefits of regional connectivity and transit through Bangladesh, particularly for NE-India, Nepal and Bhutan. These studies clearly establish the fact that regional connectivity would bring a win-win situation for all the countries concerned.