Forty years after SAARC’s founding, South Asia is still wrestling with the same old question: can we really afford to keep drifting further apart? For Pakistan, the answer’s clear. On SAARC Charter Day, both President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif didn’t mince words—the region’s future depends on cooperation, not on rivalry or political games that have kept South Asia stuck for nearly a decade.

Pakistan’s message? It’s time to reset how we talk to each other. They want open dialogue, stronger connections, more trade, and a SAARC that actually works—bringing South Asians together to tackle the problems we all share.

However, SAARC has not really functioned since 2016. That year, the Islamabad summit fell apart when India pulled out, and others followed. The result? Nearly a decade of silence, making an already fractured region even more fragile. President Zardari called India’s decision to disengage the “central impediment” to regional progress. You can disagree with that, but there is no denying that political hostility—especially between India and Pakistan—has hollowed out SAARC.

Meanwhile, the region’s real problems just keep piling up. Climate change is hitting South Asia hard. Energy shortages, food insecurity, health crises, and economic stress do not care about borders. None of this gets solved by pretending we can go it alone.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tried to strike a hopeful but pragmatic tone. He reminded everyone that SAARC was supposed to spark dialogue, encourage teamwork, and connect nations that already share a history, a geography, and a future. That hasn’t happened yet, but the need is only growing.

His main point? South Asia will not thrive if its biggest players keep going solo. Economic fragmentation has left the region stuck on the sidelines, missing out on global supply chains, cross-border energy deals, and shared digital growth. Other regions—look at ASEAN or the Gulf—have figured out how to work together. South Asia’s still stuck in old habits.

Pakistan’s leaders say it’s time for that to change; it's time to reset SAARC. 

One thing that stood out in President Zardari’s speech was his push for a more flexible SAARC. He argued that one country shouldn’t be able to freeze the whole group. If someone opts out, the rest shouldn’t have to hit pause. He even suggested bringing in countries like Iran and China—not as a political play, but because geography ties South Asia to Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean more than ever before.

Pakistan’s at the crossroads of all this. They see a SAARC that’s open to new partners, less bogged down by old grudges, and better able to turn its diversity into strength.

What really gives Pakistan’s position weight is this—South Asia’s biggest problems don’t stop at any border fence. The floods that destroy crops in Pakistan don’t care; they roll straight into India and Bangladesh. Heatwaves, food shortages, energy crises, disease outbreaks—they hit everyone, no matter which side of the line you’re on.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif put it plainly: only working together, with real trust, can shield the region from these threats. No country, big or small, can wall itself off from disasters that sweep across the whole neighborhood.

So, Pakistan isn’t spoiling for a fight. They’re looking ahead and saying: let’s revive SAARC, but let’s do it right this time. Let’s focus on what matters—trade, energy, digital links, culture, public health. And if the old way isn’t cutting it, let’s build something better.

After forty years, South Asia stands at a crossroads. We can keep clinging to old grudges and slide into irrelevance, or we can grab this chance to shape a new future.

Pakistan’s call for a reset isn’t just about its own interests—it’s about a whole region with too much at stake to stay divided.

If South Asia wants real prosperity and dignity for its two billion people, it has to get back to SAARC’s founding idea: we go further when we go together.