A Joint Seminar of NDU - National Defence University

The speaker proposed possible reasons for the cooperation which seems to be
in favor of economic benefits for every member country of SAARC, in favor of a more
stable political relationship with China and South Asia, also in accord with the strategic
quests of both sides. In the contemporary environment, regional integration is
immensely needed for the development of all states. Mutual interests need to be on
board of all playing partners of the region. It is impossible to withdraw benefits beyond a
specific point individually by any state of the region.
In his second portion of presentation, the speaker explained that how these
targets can be achieved as strengthening bilateral cooperation through advantages and
development Strategies acceptable to national Interests of the regional participant
states. Geographic advantages of regional states should be integrated to maximize the
economic benefits. West is scared of China’s fast growing development irrationally.
However, China seeks peaceful development on the go and wants to incorporate the
region in this pursuit. This will also result in the geo-economic advantages for the
regional states. The speaker was of the view that this is impossible unless we
strengthen the mutual exchanges and coordination to tap the potentials. This needs
wider and deeper collaborative actions. Trade is the key to explore and utilize the
resources of the region for the development. It requires the regional routes connecting
in a network to all regional states. This will enable the local states to communicate and
trade freely. A proper policy framework can be agreed upon for the regional trade
promotion. One example can be Trans-regional highways and railways for more
regional economic integration.
Mr. Mu concluded the presentation saying that without enhanced economic
development and integration, this region and its inhabitants cannot progress to the
higher levels of social, economic and strategic status. Peace is pre-requisite to the
development that has to be ensured by the regional states for a bright future and
economic interdependence could be the key to the peace in the region.
Interactive Discussion
The interactive session primarily focused on the Permanent membership of
China in SAARC, assertion of power by China at international level, failure of Pakistan
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