tourism in saarc countries

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AREAS OF COOPERATION

Human Resource Development And Tourism

Not only as a major component of economic growth but also as means of facilitating people to people contacts, the significant role of tourisms has been recognized since early days of SAARC. The Leaders during the Second Summit held at Bangalore in 1986 underlined that concrete steps should be taken to facilitate tourism in the SAARC region. Successive SAARC Summits reiterated the importance of tourism.

SAARC Tourism Ministers meet from time to time to make recommendations for promoting tourism in the region. SAARC Working Group is in place since 2004 to pursue and implement plans and decisions under tourism. So far, the Ministers have met three times and the Working Group has met five times. The last Ministers’ Meeting was held in Kathmandu in January 2011 preceded the Fourth Working Group Meeting. A SAARC Action Plan on Promotion of Tourism has been adopted by the second meeting of Tourism Ministers (Bangladesh, 2006) and pursued since then. The Action Plan includes a joint pro-active marketing or promotional campaign of the SAARC landmass as a composite destination in the international markets. The Action plan also emphasize on the role of private sector of the SAARC region for promotion and development of tourism both intra-regionally and internationally. The Fifth Working Group on Tourism which was held in New Delhi on 25-26 November 2015, among others, emphasized on implementation of SAARC Action Plan on Promotion of Tourism in the region.

Meeting of SAARC Cabinet Secretaries

The idea of Meeting of SAARC Cabinet Secretaries was suggested by India in year 2008 to discuss professional issues of common concern such as administrative reform, procedural simplifications and implementation of development programs relevant to SAARC Countries which was welcomed by Member States. The Cabinet Secretaries of SAARC has so far met four times i.e. New Delhi, November 2009; Dhaka, April 2014; Islamabad, April 2015; and Kathmandu, June 2016.

The Forum is discussing issues of common concern and also provides a good opportunity for sharing the best practices and lessons learned in the contexts of administrative, economic, and social reforms. The Forum also discusses matters relating to rural development, administrative reforms , governance and capacity building and performance evaluation.

Nepal hosted the Fourth Meeting of the SAARC Cabinet Secretaries on 9-10 June 2016 in Kathmandu, The delegations of the Member States emphasized on the importance of collective aspiration and cooperation for achieving common objectives aimed at prosperity and welfare of the peoples of the region and appreciated the initiatives taken by the Member States.

So far, number of programs, workshops and initiatives has taken place under this Forum with the participation of officials from SAARC Member States.

Apex and Recognized Bodies of SAARC

SAARC attaches high priority to the promotion of people-to-people contact in the region and to foster mutual understanding and goodwill among the peoples of South Asia. While it is an inter-governmental Association, successive Summits have emphasized on the importance of promoting people-to-people contact at all levels outside the State sector. In order to realize this objective, a number of initiatives have taken place.

With a view of enriching and supplementing inter-governmental regional efforts in promoting socio-economic and cultural development in SAARC Region, the Association encourages interface and interaction across the region among professional bodies, private corporate sector, civil society groups and creative artists. To further facilitate and acknowledge their work, the Association grants formal recognition to these bodies under two specific categories i.e. SAARC Apex Bodies and SAARC Recognized Bodies.

There are six SAARC Apex Bodies and eighteen SAARC Recognized Bodies. However, the dates of recognition status of all SAARC Apex and SAARC Recognized Bodies have expired and therefore, the recognition status of all Bodies, at present, is considered pending which according to the SAARC Guidelines and Procedures for granting/renewal of recognition, would require the recommendation and approval of the competent Bodies of SAARC for continued recognition.

SAARC APEX BODIES:

SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI)

The SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) was granted the status of a SAARC Apex Body in December 1992. SCCI brings together the national chambers of commerce and industry of the eight SAARC countries. It is e ncouraging Trade, Service, Industry, Small & Medium Enterprise, Agriculture; Intra-Regional through creating strong business linkages amongst the entrepreneurs of the region of SAARC it has a permanent Secretariat in Islamabad, Pakistan.

SAARCLAW consists of members of the legal profession from South Asia. Established in 1991, it was accorded recognition as a SAARC Apex Body in July 1994. Among its objectives are to bring together the legal communities of the region for closer cooperation and to develop law as a source and catalyst of social change for development.

South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA)

SAFA was established in 1984 with the objective of developing a coordinated accountancy profession in the region. It was granted recognition as a SAARC Recognized Body in May 1997. It was later elevated to the status of a SAARC Apex Body in January 2002. Its membership is open to accountancy bodies in the SAARC region. Its Secretariat is located in India.

South Asia Foundation (SAF)

Founded by UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Madanjeet Singh in year 2000, the South Asia Foundation (SAF) is a secular, non-profit and non-political organization, comprising eight autonomous chapters in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SAF’s core objective is to promote regional cooperation through a number of UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Institutions of Excellence in the eight SAARC countries. SAF was recognized as an Apex Body in August 2006. Its Headquarters is located in India.

Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL)

FOSWAL has been working to foster people-to-people contacts in the region, especially amongst the writers and intellectuals of the SAARC region. FOSWAL has created a large fraternity of writers, poets, scholars, diplomats, academics and intellectuals through its varied initiatives. It has been promoting the ideals of SAARC, particularly in the areas of literature, art and culture, and has contributed significantly to the greater objective of peace and prosperity in the SAARC region. It was granted SAARC Recognized body status in January 2002. Later FOSWAL was granted Apex body status in 2007. Its Headquarters is located in New Delhi.

South Asia Initiative to End Violence against Children (SAIEVAC)

SAIEVAC was formed after the 4 th South Asia Forum for Ending Violence against Children (SAF) (Kathmandu, Jan. 2012) decided to create a new Institutional Framework for ending violence against children and recommended that SAF’s name be changed to the “South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC)”. It was granted the status of SAARC Apex Body in 2011. SIEVAC envisages an environment free from all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation, neglect and discrimination for children, girls and boys, throughout South Asia. SIEVAC’s Permanent Headquarters is located in Kathmandu, Nepal.

SAARC RECOGNIZED BODIES:

Association of Management and Development Institutions in South Asia (AMDISA)

AMDISA is a network of Management Education and Management Development Institutions in South Asia. It has 251 members from the SAARC region. Its mission is to p romote management education and management development activities in South Asia, taking into account the economic, social and cultural context of the Region, with the firm dedication to world-wide exchange of experience and ideas in the fields concerned. It was granted SAARC recognition in May 1997. AMDISA’s Headquarters is located in Hyderabad, India.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation of Architects (SAARCH)

SAARCH was founded in 1991 in Colombo with the objective of assisting the development of national architectural bodies within the South Asian region and providing opportunities for conferences of architects to discuss professional matters. It was awarded SAARC recognition in 1997.

Federation of State Insurance Organizations of SAARC Countries (FSIO)

FSIO is engaged in strengthening cooperation among the state sector insurers in the region as also in promoting cooperation with international organizations for the development of insurance industry. FSIO obtained SAARC recognition in 2002.

SAARC Diploma Engineers Forum (SDEF)

SDEF was recognized by SAARC in 2002. The Forum was established with the objectives of exchanging technical information and experiences and organizing seminars, symposia, workshops, technical fairs with joint efforts of diploma engineers of the region. SDEF’s Headquarters is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Radiological Society of SAARC Countries (RSSC)

The Society is engaged in the development and advancement of the radiological science through education and scientific research. It was recognized by SAARC in 2002.

SAARC Teachers Federation (STF)

STF is an umbrella organization in the SAARC region. STF was granted recognition by SAARC in January 2002. At present 17 EI Affiliates, teacher organizations are affiliated to STF from six countries i.e. India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. STF and its affiliates organize advocacy and lobbying on the common issues in the region. Education International (EI) financially assists STF in its activities.

SAARC Surgical Care Society (SSCS)

The Society aims to promote understanding and cooperation amongst Surgeons, Surgical Associations, Colleges, Societies and Organizations in the region. It was accorded SAARC recognition in 2002.

South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA)

SAFMA is a mainstream media practitioners’ body of eight South Asian countries. The objectives of SAFMA are to promote networking among the media community, improve professional standards, facilitate journalists’ exchanges, media training and undertake joint media productions. SAFMA gained the recognition by SAARC in 2004.

SAARC Women’s Association (SWA)

SWA was granted recognition by SAARC in November 2005. It aims at building bridges of friendship and raising funds through cultural activities for a charitable cause. It is actively participating for acceleration of economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region.

Hindukush Himalayan Grassroots Women’s Natural Resources Management (HIMAWANTI)

HIMAWANTI was granted recognition by SAARC in 2007. Its goals include ensuring the emergence of appropriate policies and decision-making processes relating to programs aimed at organizing rural women, advocating for women’s right and promoting their moral strength for the conservation and management of the natural resources of the region by giving priority to rural women.

Federation of Association of Pediatric Surgeons of SAARC Countries (FAPSS)

FAPSS goals are promotion and propagation of health of children among SAARC nations; continued interaction for mutual cooperation and scientific exchange of knowledge for the mutual benefit in the field of patient care, teaching and research as well as establishment/promotion of pediatric surgery where it is not currently available. FAPSS was granted recognition by SAARC in 2007. Its Coordinating office is in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

South Asian Federation of Exchanges (SAFE)

SAFE is a cooperative platform launched by the bourses in South Asia with a purpose to promote the development and harmonization of the securities markets in the region. SAFE was granted recognition by SAARC in December 2007 and it is the only organized regional platform of South Asian capital markets. Since its establishment, SAFE has continued its work for harmonization/integration of the regional markets. SAFE’s Secretariat in Islamabad, Pakistan.

SAARC Federation of Oncologists (SFO)

The objectives of the SFO to promote the education and science of oncology (cancer), to improve patient services, to study the socio-economic aspects of its practice and to encourage improve and continuing education and its applied professional fields. SFO was granted recognition by SAARC in 2009.

South Asia Association of National Scout Organization (SAANSO)

Recognized by SAARC in 2011, SAANSO’s objective are, among others, to uphold and promote the values and ethos of Scouting and strive towards professionalism and quality of Scouting across South Asia and to deepen the level of interaction among the National Scout Organizations (NSOs) for each others’ overall organizational development. SAANSO’s Headquarters is located in Bangladesh.

South Asian Network of Economic Research Institute (SANEI)

SANEI is a research oriented Society which was granted recognition by SAARC in 2011. The objective of the Society is to foster networking among economic research institutions in South Asia for establishing strong research inter-linkages pertaining to broader concerns of development. The Society’s current office is in Kathmandu, Nepal.

SAARC Academy of Ophthalmology (SAO)

SAARC Academy of Ophthalmology (SAO) SAO is a conglomerate of ophthalmologists who are members of national societies of ophthalmology in the various countries. The aims of SAO are to promote peace, solidarity and ocular health in the region of the SAARC countries. SAO’s Headquarters is in India.

South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF)

SWADF has emerged from the core group of women led organizations who have the experience in working towards regional issues for the socio-economic empowerment of the South Asian Women. This coalition of experts, institutions and affiliations have come together for capacity building, advocacy, dialogue, and information sharing through net working. SAWDF is an autonomous, nonprofit organization based in Kathmandu Nepal. It was granted recognition by SAARC in 2014.

Self Employed Women Association (SEWA)

SEWA is an organization of poor, self-employed women workers in the informal sector of the economy who earn a living through their own labor or small businesses and do not obtain regular salaried employment with welfare benefits like workers in the organized sector. The main goals of SEWA are to organize women workers for full employment whereby workers obtain work security, income security, food security and social security (at least health care, child care and shelter). It was granted recognition by SAARC in 2016.

South Asia Forum:

South Asia Forum was formed after the SAARC Leader, at the Sixteenth SAARC Summit (Thimphu, 28-29 April 2010), emphasized on the need to develop a ‘Vision Statement’ and agreed to form a ‘South Asia Forum’ for generation of debate, discussion and the exchange of ideas on South Asia and its future development, consisting of eminent personalities of diverse background including from all SAARC Member States,

To this effect, a Concept Note on the establishment of a South Asia Forum, prepared by India, was presented at the Informal Meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers (New York, 28 September 2010).

The first Steering Committee for the South Asia Forum (New Delhi, 10 January 2011) finalized the Objectives, Scope and Guidelines for the Forum including the theme, format, agenda and participation for the first meeting of the South Asia Forum. the First Meeting of the South Asia Forum was successfully held in New Delhi on 8-9 September 2011 under the overarching theme of “Integration in South Asia: Moving Towards a South Asian Economic Union.” The Forum brought together policy makers, eminent personalities, academia, business leaders and representatives of civil society from all Member States. The draft Conclusion covers the areas of trade and investment; connectivity; energy, environment and natural resources; people to people movement; culture; development and demography; security; strengthening the existing mechanisms and tools of SAARC; structure and functioning of the South Asia Forum; and next steps.

The Second Steering Committee Meeting for South Asia Forum (SAARC Secretariat, 6-7 June 2012) considered the matters relating to hosting the Second South Asia Forum and made its recommendations. The Second South Asia Forum will be taking place during 2018 in one of the SAARC Member States.

Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians:

The Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians was formally launched in 1992 in Kathmandu. The Heads of State or Government at their Seventh SAARC Summit (Dhaka, April 1993) welcomed the initiative of the Speakers of Parliaments of SAARC countries in forming the Association.

The Association is a Forum for exchange of ideas and information on parliamentary practices and procedures. Its main objectives are to strengthen people-to-people contacts with a view to achieving mutual understanding, trust and friendship among the people of SAARC countries and also to promote contacts, coordinate and exchange experiences among parliaments and Parliamentarians of SAARC countries. The Association has met in New Delhi (July 1995), Islamabad (October 1997), Dhaka (March 1999), Colombo (March 2006), New Delhi (July 2011), Islamabad (November 2012) and Malé (December 2013) and Colombo (October 2017).

The Secretariat of the Association is housed by the country hosting the General Conference.

Navigating sustainable development: exploring the environmental Kuznets curve in the SAARC region with global stochastic trends

Published: 06 February 2024

Cite this article

Abdul Majid Awan ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9238-3728 1 ,
Sardar Fawad Saleem ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4570-1607 1 &
Saqib Khan 1

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The intricate relationship between environment, globalization, and tourism has sparked captivating debates among researchers. Current work aims to explore the combined effects GDP, GDP squre(Kuznets curve) globalization, tourism development and financial development on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. In particular, the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis within the SAARC region during 1995–2022 is investigated. To discern the long-term relationship between the variables, advanced estimators, namely continuous-updated fully modified and continuously updated and bias-corrected models, are employed. Findings indicate that globalization and tourism development contribute to increased emissions, while financial development helps in mitigating carbon emissions. It is emphasized that comprehensive changes encompassing economic, social, and political aspects are imperative to effectively curb emissions in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region. Policy makers should give careful attention to regional trade patterns, and the decision-makers of the SAARC countries are suggested to establish robust governmental and statutory frameworks to support sustainable tourism development. Furthermore, fostering financial development, particularly in the financial and private sectors, holds potential for addressing environmental degradation effectively.

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Source Built by authors based on Awan and Azam ( 2022 )

Source Author’s own compilation

Source Computed by authors based on Granger causality results by using Vensim software

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Data availability

The data and materials used in this study are available upon request.

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Awan, A.M., Saleem, S.F. & Khan, S. Navigating sustainable development: exploring the environmental Kuznets curve in the SAARC region with global stochastic trends. Environ Dev Sustain (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-04505-9

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Tourism in South Asia: an economic leverage to India

Manipal Institute of Management, Manipal

Research output : Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Tourism occupies paramount significance in the global landscape, as an economic as well as a social phenomenon. When the sociocultural exchange can be the drive for tourism in developed regions, for economically backward regions, this is uncontestably a viable economic activity with little or less capital accumulation. Promotion of social and cultural exchange, by means of people-to-people contact, was an important agenda of the SAARC to accomplish economic interdependence for the integrated development of the region. This descriptive study examines various economic impacts of tourism among the SAARC region based on World Travel and Tourism Council’s latest statistics. We also attempt to review the inbound tourism in India from South Asian region over one decade to understand its longitudinal trends. The study finds that India maintains a special advantage in the inflow of tourists among its peer member countries in the region. The spatial advantages, physiographic features, cultural heritage and other competitive advantages have enabled the country to be unique in this respect. The paper argues that India can be a catalyst of tourism promotion in South Asia by utilising the hub and spoke model of development.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Geography, Planning and Development
Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management

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10.1080/10941665.2017.1331924

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Region Social Sciences 100%
Economics Social Sciences 100%
South Asia Social Sciences 100%
Tourism Social Sciences 100%
India Social Sciences 100%
india INIS 100%
economics INIS 100%
asia INIS 100%

T1 - Tourism in South Asia

T2 - an economic leverage to India

AU - Pillai, K. R.

PY - 2017/7/3

Y1 - 2017/7/3

N2 - Tourism occupies paramount significance in the global landscape, as an economic as well as a social phenomenon. When the sociocultural exchange can be the drive for tourism in developed regions, for economically backward regions, this is uncontestably a viable economic activity with little or less capital accumulation. Promotion of social and cultural exchange, by means of people-to-people contact, was an important agenda of the SAARC to accomplish economic interdependence for the integrated development of the region. This descriptive study examines various economic impacts of tourism among the SAARC region based on World Travel and Tourism Council’s latest statistics. We also attempt to review the inbound tourism in India from South Asian region over one decade to understand its longitudinal trends. The study finds that India maintains a special advantage in the inflow of tourists among its peer member countries in the region. The spatial advantages, physiographic features, cultural heritage and other competitive advantages have enabled the country to be unique in this respect. The paper argues that India can be a catalyst of tourism promotion in South Asia by utilising the hub and spoke model of development.

AB - Tourism occupies paramount significance in the global landscape, as an economic as well as a social phenomenon. When the sociocultural exchange can be the drive for tourism in developed regions, for economically backward regions, this is uncontestably a viable economic activity with little or less capital accumulation. Promotion of social and cultural exchange, by means of people-to-people contact, was an important agenda of the SAARC to accomplish economic interdependence for the integrated development of the region. This descriptive study examines various economic impacts of tourism among the SAARC region based on World Travel and Tourism Council’s latest statistics. We also attempt to review the inbound tourism in India from South Asian region over one decade to understand its longitudinal trends. The study finds that India maintains a special advantage in the inflow of tourists among its peer member countries in the region. The spatial advantages, physiographic features, cultural heritage and other competitive advantages have enabled the country to be unique in this respect. The paper argues that India can be a catalyst of tourism promotion in South Asia by utilising the hub and spoke model of development.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85020225476&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85020225476&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/10941665.2017.1331924

DO - 10.1080/10941665.2017.1331924

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85020225476

SN - 1094-1665

JO - Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research

JF - Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research

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SAARC nations must strengthen tourism ties to boost regional tourism

Globally, it has been an accepted fact today that covid-19 is here to stay. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Governments across the globe have majorly focused on striking a balance between lives and livelihood. Tourism and hospitality industry have been the worst hit segments and will be one of the last ones to revive. With majority of the governments giving a green signal to restart tourism cautiously, domestic tourism will be the fuel to keep the industry running.

Experts are of the opinion that regional tourism will act as a starting point for the international travel. Neighbouring destinations are now looking at bilateral travel and devising ways to enhance regional tourism. India being the main stakeholder of the SAARC Region, developing strong relations in the tourism front across the region is the need of the hour.

To further brainstorm and discuss the opportunities to strengthen tourism ties within the SAARC region SATTE Bangladesh and T3 organised an e-conference recently titled, ‘COVID -19: Regional/Short-haul Tourism is the only Way Forward’. Moderated by Murari Mohan Jha, Editor, T3, the e-conference witnessed eminent speakers from across the fraternity including; Suman Billa, Director, Technical Cooperation & Silk Road Development, UNWTO; Subhash Goyal, Honorary Secretary, FAITH; Madubhani Perera, Actg Managing Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau; Deepak Raj Joshi, Former CEO, Nepal Tourism Board; Jabed Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer, Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB); HM Hakim Ali, President, Bangladesh Int. Hotel Association- (BIHA) and Rezaul Ekram, President, Bangladesh Inbound Tour Operators Association

Fostering regional connect

SAARC region has been very closely knit and have various ties with respect to trade and commerce. Tourism is one segment which needs more of G2G talks and the present scenario is an opportunity to develop this relation.

“The principle across the world is that domestic will lead. At the second level, regional travel will surely happen. It’s important how SAARC can structure this. We need to make alternate arrangements to make sure hotel and tourism industry is supported. Also, the Governments confidence level is low. If you are not to be quarantined, you need to step into the country with an antibody test with a certificate. The second option is with a vaccine certificate, whenever it’s out. Globally, we see development of travel bubbles or safe travel zones as an interim arrangement made to restart travel before vaccines are introduced. These are done by countries which are very successful in handling the pandemic like Baltic countries (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia), second is the Trans-Tasmania (Australia, New Zealand), UK and France are in a state of active discussions, also Greece is looking at an arrangement with Cyprus and some other countries. In the interim, it will be the regional arrangements that will go forward,” Billa said.

Speaking about the challenges which needs to be countered, Billa added, “SAARC Countries have a huge challenge of perception in terms of safety and hygiene. We may not rank very high, we need to work on this. We need to restore consumer confidence. There also needs to be health protocol by the Health Ministry apart from Tourism Ministry. Governments need to sit and discuss how to go forward. We need to establish testing and border control protocols so that risk gets mitigated. It will take some time to come with these SOPs in place. We can carve out zones initially before opening the entire country. It’s an opportunity for SAARC and can be led very strongly. If there is a strong protocol in place things can be seamless.”

There has been a lot of private connects in the region, but somehow Governments have never discussed tourism at greater lengths within the region.

“As other parts of the world, even in Nepal, travel and tourism is the worst hit which is eight per cent economy revenue generator. I see a potential of the region coming together, with such incredible offerings. India in 2019 received nearly 18 million ITAs including NRIs, Sri Lanka 2.3 million, Bangladesh near 1 million and Nepal with 1.2 million. So roughly when we talk about these four countries, we have received around 22.5 million international tourists. When we talk about outbound, these four countries send around 31 million travellers altogether. There is a huge market here for us. In private sector, there has been some collaborations over the years, but it is very low in Government level. From private perspective, we have to network more and jointly market these destinations. We need to communicate our strength and market more aggressively. From Government side, we need to work together for a seamless collaboration,” Joshi stated.

One of the first countries in the region to open up inbound tourism is Sri Lanka. The destination has comparatively a smaller number of cases and has successfully contained the spread of covid-19. Sri Lanka is set to restart international tourism from August 1.

Divulging the plans and SOPs in place, Perera said, “Sri Lanka is very fortunate as we have controlled the situation to an extent with very few cases. The Covid-19 Combat Task Force headed by the President has decided that tourism will be open to the world from August 1. The committee is already working on the protocol to open the tourism sector. For the moment the decisions taken regarding inbound, travellers need to take a PCR test 72 hours before boarding the aircraft. Once the reach they will again be tested and put in a hotel for 24 hours. If they are positive, they will be sent to a quarantined hotel else they can enjoy the tour. Once again 5-6 days later the traveller will be tested. We will make sure that traveller is safe in the country. Travellers should minimum stay for five nights to enter will be the new protocol. We are also considering with five-year multiple entry visa with maximum six months stay which will encourage repeat clients.”

Bangladesh Tourism is now working on a plan to restart and revive tourism segment with a major focus on domestic and cross border tourism. The destination has suffered over US$1500 million alone from the tourism segment during the covid-19 pandemic.

“Tourism is an important economy driver for our region. The most prolonged impact across the globe will be in tourism which contributes up to 10 per cent of the global GDP. Nearly 1.18 million direct and 2.3 million indirect are working in this sector who are impacted in Bangladesh. Recently, Bangladesh Tourism Board has experienced a loss of US$1500 million in tourism to Bangladesh. We have come up with an integrated plan to restart tourism. Tourism establishment and services should follow strictly the protocol released by the Government. Our immediate focus will be on the short haul and domestic tourism instead of the long haul. With less money in the pockets of the people they would want to travel, long haul seems difficult. In this backdrop, regional and cross border tourism could be our first choice to restart the business. I do call for a solidarity and a greater unity in our SAARC region,” Ahmed said.

Private Perspective

Over the last couple of months, the tour operators and travel agents’ segment were looking for a few reliefs from the government. With a few relief measures in place, the private sector is now looking to build new relations within the region to give a major impetus to the cross-border and regional tourism.

“The entire Indian tourism industry has been completely impacted. For the hoteliers also there is a 95 per cent impact, the rest five per cent are near airport or used as quarantine centres. Recently, the domestic flights restarted with all protocols and precautions in place, only passengers who are fit to travel are allowed. We have now learnt to live with covid-19. FAITH has made representations to the Prime Minister and the Tourism Minister; the government is looking at providing some relief. A lot of countries have successfully contained the virus and have started living with the virus, we also need to adopt similar protocols. In India, we are working as one team with Ministry of Tourism. We can also think of collaboration in a lot of fronts. My recommendations to the tourism boards is that we must live with this virus. We can carry certificates till vaccines come that we are corona negative. All protocols by IATA and ICAO needs to be strictly followed,” Goyal said.

Bangladesh has been the number one source market for India as per the latest statistics. But industry experts from Bangladesh don’t see a similar reciprocal from their neighbours in terms of inbound traffic.

Ali said, “We have already advised all the owners to be prepared with all SOPs and be ready to open hotels. Unless Bangladesh is included in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka tour operator’s itineraries, there won’t be regional travel. Bangladeshi travellers are going across the region, but the reciprocal is very less. We are all ready to cater to regional markets, but we would want Bangladesh to be included in itineraries.”

Echoing similar opinion, Ekram added, “We should now stand together to fight and bring back tourism to the right place. We are in a geographical location with 25 per cent of the world population living, which means our tourism can bounce back. Our travellers will be eager to travel within the country and later in the region. We will start our domestic tourism first with SOPs in place. Cross Border tourism is very important as we have good connectivity with Nepal and India. We are the top inbound travellers in India, but we are not getting that big numbers from India. Cross border tourism will happen, in terms of regional travels we need to have bilateral itineraries. When SAARC started there was a special airfare for the region, which we need to reinforce to attract more travellers. The SAARC entry fee should be implemented by all nations. If possible, like ASEAN, we need a NTOs research cell where we can come out with data to revive.”

Responding to the scenario, Goyal added, “Bangladesh needs to do more roadshows in India for visibility as other regional tourism boards are very active. When tourism was down, we started various travel marts across the country. Similarly, Bangladesh is a beautiful destination but needs marketing. We have been going to Europe, America and other countries but we need to promote within the region. We need more buyer-seller meets in our region. We want to promote Bangladesh in a big way. SAARC tourism fares was there where all national carriers were giving 25 per cent discount, we need to introduce that. Visa fee for travellers within SAARC region should be very less. Also, we need to mull for a joint SAARC visa similar to Shengen region. We need to have a bilateral exchange of our currencies; this will help us making our money more effective.”

Role of SATTE

Over the years SATTE, South Asia’s largest travel and trade expo has played a major role in binding the tourism interests of the region. The exhibition has been a major platform for the entire region to collaborate and network. Regional Tourism Boards feel that SATTE needs to be the platform to foster regional relations.

Speaking about SATTE, Goyal said, “I am one of the founder members of SATTE, when I was the president of IATO, as we wanted inter-regional tourism in the South Asia region. Small tour operators could not attend big events across the globe, so this platform was created. SATTE has to now play the historical role to connect the entire region, it has over the years done a brilliant job. We need to have regional cooperation between South Asian Countries.”

This year, SATTE was set to debut in Bangladesh with SATTE Bangladesh in August, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the exhibition has been pushed to the next year. “SATTE was looking to organize in Bangladesh but has been postponed for another date. We are looking forward for such an event to network and connect with our counterparts from across the region,” Ali opined.

Similarly, some experts feel that SATTE should be held across the region to boost tourism in those destinations. Joshi said, “Experts feel that Asia is a source of hope for travel to the world. We have to come closer. SATTE itself is a big platform which brings the entire region together and you are planning to come up with an event in Bangladesh. I would propose that you can also organize in Colombo or Katmandu to further strengthen the collaboration.”

Echoing similar opinion, Perera added, “When we consider regional travel, we need to make south Asia the most flexible region for travel. SATTE was long back held in Sri Lanka, we can once again revive that with help of SAARC region.”

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Effect of Landlockedness on Receiving Tourism Income in SAARC Countries

The Journal of Knowledge and Innovation

This study looks into the economic-driven tourism growth hypothesis in the context of SAARC countries. It also investigates the effect of landlockedness on tourism income receipt. It is based on secondary data gathered from several World Bank Reports and economic surveys of respective countries. It made use of 169 data points from SAARC's eight member countries. The data from an unbalanced panel was used. It makes use of an exploratory and analytical research design. For the impact study of independent variables on dependent variables, descriptive statistics, panel unit root testing, panel quantile regression analysis, quantile process estimates, quantile slope equality test, and symmetric quantile test are used. The GDP has a positive impact on tourism income in SAARC countries. It is found that one percent increase in the median value of GDP, the tourism income is increased by 0.219 percent. The evidence has proved the economic-driven tourism growth hypothesis, particularly re...

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1 Department of Management, Ala-Too International University, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Tasneem Khan

2 Centre for Distance Education, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, U.P 202002 India

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3 Department of Finance and Accounting, Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai, India

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4 Department of Commerce, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, U.P 202002 India

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Introduction

The unprecedented growth in tourism has placed it among the top foreign exchange contributors for the global economy leading to coinage of the term “tourism export” (Brida et al. 2016 ). Its role in an economy is being explored throughout the globe. Similarly, an unmatched trade expansion has invited a lot of discussions on its role in socio-economic development. Both of tourism and export are generally acknowledged as contributors to the economic growth and development of a country (Cetin and Ackrill 2018 ; Suresh et al. 2018 ).

In examining the association between tourism and growth, extant literature has reported the causality running from growth to tourism (Katircioglu 2009 ; Kumar et al. 2019 ) and from tourism to growth (Banday and Ismail 2017 ; Brida et al. 2015 ). Apart from its role as a stimulator of economic growth, tourism is also thought to be leading to poverty alleviation, indicating the developmental effects of tourism (Mahadevan et al. 2017 ). Owing to recent recent development in tourism and growth literature, the role of tourism in an economy is now well recognised, both as a facilitator of development and a stimulator of growth.

On the other hand, trade and economic growth relationship have been studied using three main hypotheses, the Trade-Led Growth (TLG) hypothesis, which bifurcates further into Import- Led Growth (ILG) hypothesis and Export-Led Growth (ELG) hypothesis. The reverse causality of these three hypotheses has also been studied and found to be holding true in some instances (See for instance Shan and Sun 1998 ; Awokuse 2008 ). The ELG strategy is increasingly pitched to developing countries citing the example of the USA, which has successfully used it in its early phase of development. Evidence is available from both industrialised and developing economies of the success of ELG strategy (See for instance Shirazi and Manap 2005 ; Marin 2016 ). In addition to the success of this strategy, researchers also hint at an enhanced role of exports as an engine of growth during the financial crisis (Aslan and Topcu 2018 ; Liu et al. 2019 ). However, some researchers also question the robustness of ELG strategy and advice caution in the interpretation of results (Medina-Smith 2001 ; Dreger and Herzer 2013 ). 1

Scholars have also identified imports as an important determinant of growth and report a significant direct relationship between them (Awokuse 2008 ; Cetin and Ackrill 2018 ). The positive effects of import on growth is attributed to increased productivity and export promotion (Hallaert 2015 ). There is evidence of both export and import causing growth individually and some studies point out that these effects are mutually exclusive (Werner Kristjanpoller and Olson 2014 ). In some instances, the empirical evidence even hints at stronger support for the ILG hypothesis than the ELG hypothesis (Awokuse 2008 ).

The TLG hypothesis has also been tested over the years by scholars. Recent studies on the subject continue to concur with early literature that trade and growth have long term association (Iwanicz-Drozdowska et al. 2020 ; Sahoo and Sethi 2020 ). Although there is some consensus on import and trade lead growth theory, few studies also point to the adverse effects of both on growth (See for instance Ali and Li 2018 ; Redmond and Nasir 2020 ). The critiques of free trade argue that trade creates an economic and social imbalance between high and low-income countries, this viewpoint however is in minuscule minority and have few takers in academic and non-academic circles. On having realised the importance of both trade and tourism as promoters of growth and development, governments around the world have taken policy decisions to liberalise them.

As history textbooks are filled with evidence of travel and trade between ancient civilizations and medieval kingdoms, it is reasonable to assume that they are related because they have co-existed for ages. This underlining assumption has resulted in the emergence of a new area of study, that looks for possible linkages between tourism and trade, as such a relationship can present opportunities for reaping economic incentives. On empirically examining tourism and trade Brahmbhatt and Menezes ( 2013 ) theorise that apart from their respective role as agents of growth and development, there is a possible nexus between trade and tourism. Further advances in this area of research suggest a complementary relationship between the two, through bridging information asymmetries and cost reductions (Santana-Gallego et al. 2016 ). A few studies also point out that the nature of the relationship between trade and tourism may be supplementary as people might substitute travelling to a country with imports from the country (Easton 1998 ). Although, both outlooks reflect that trade and tourism are somehow related, the nature of this relationship is still not clear.

The proposed relationship can have many policy implications for governments, especially for countries that aspire to increase their share in world trade and international tourism. The relation between tourism and trade can have multiple facets. First, inbound tourist arrivals can improve export performance by reducing transaction cost and improving the image of host countries and their products. Second, foreign tourist arrivals can also cause imports to increase because of reduced transaction cost and product preferences of foreign tourists. Third, inbound tourist may also identify markets for home country products in host countries, leading to more imports because of tourist arrivals in host countries. A similar dynamics could also be applicable for outbound tourists and trade of a county.

This said relationship can also be the other way round, where trade leads to tourism. For instance, trade may lead to more business visits and those business visits may lead to more leisure trips. On further dissecting this theory, it can be said that exports can develop a country’s brand and image in importing countries, leading to more people travelling to exporting countries. Additionally, imports for satisfying tourist needs may also lead to more tourist arrivals.

Through this study, India’s trade with SAARC member countries and tourists arriving from these countries are analysed adopting a panel cointegration and ARDL modelling approach. The choice of India and SAARC countries is motivated by two reasons. First, India has witnessed continuous growth in its tourism and export in the last two decades (disregarding the shocks due to global or domestic issues) and it aspires to further increase its share in global tourism and world trade 2 , 3 Recent policy initiatives like easing visa norms and the Make in India campaign are aimed at achieving that objective. These developments makes India the perfect test case for tourism and trade relationship among developing countries. Second, SAARC countries share a common border and have cultural linkages to India. People from member states can travel to India with ease (No visa requirement/Visa on arrival facilities). Shared borders and ease of travelling reduces transportation/travelling cost, which is a major determinant of both tourism demand and trade. Therefore, SAARC countries present an opportunity to validate trade and tourism theories on culturally integrated and bordering countries.

This paper makes addition to the existing body of literature in at least two ways. First, it provides evidence of the said relationship from a set of developing countries with varying level of economic development. This is an important examination as varying level of economic development can be significant determinant of interaction between trade and tourism. For instance, majority of the studies indicate trade leads to increased tourism and vice-versa. However, sampled countries in this study is so economically different that higher trade might not lead to higher tourism. In other words, due to varied income per capita, the findings of this study may not be in line with the extant literature. Second, and more importantly, the paper investigates the case of culturally and historically integrated countries. This aspect of study is very distinct and hence a significant departure from the extant literature which has so far investigated the issue in case of trade partners or have received highest tourists from a specific country or a group of country. For instance, any such study undertaken for a country, say Thailand, would take few of its major trade partners or countries from which Thailand received maximum tourists and look for any association between trade and tourist arrivals (Chaisumpunsakul and Pholphirul 2018 ).

Going forward the rest of the article is organised into 6 sections. Section 2 presents the theoretical linkage between trade and tourism. Section 3 elucidates India’s trade and tourism scenario in relation to SAARC member states. Sections 4 and 5 highlights the data sources and methodological approach adopted for the study, followed by results in Sect. 6 . The final section gives policy implications of the study along with its major limitations and directions for future research.

Related Literature

The literature on the effects of migration on trade gave way to research on tourism and trade relationship. Studies on migration establish two basic principles that have consequences for international trade. First, migration reduces the cost of the transaction between two countries (Enderwick et al. 2011 ; Steingress 2018 ) and second, migrated people bring along a preference for products from their home country (Zhang 2020 ).

Taking a cue from the studies on migration, researchers of trade and tourism linkage have focussed their attention on the above-mentioned principles. Sinclair ( 1998 ) and Aradhyula and Tronstad ( 2003 ) suggest that foreign tourist arrivals allay the market failure in relation to information gaps about foreign market opportunities. They bridge the information asymmetries by acting as a source of information on foreign demand preference thereby increasing firm productivity and regional efficiency (Marrocu and Paci 2011 ). This costless information exchange allows businesses from the host country to produce goods for those foreign markets. Apart from being a source of obtaining preferences of foreign buyers, they also serve as a medium to introduce local products in foreign lands (Brau and Maria Pinna 2013 ). Continuous exposure to these products from host countries tends to change the preferences of tourists over time and they begin to favour foreign products over domestically produced goods (Quinn 2009 ), such changes are particularly visible in food product choices. Madaleno et al. ( 2019 ) report that visitors act as marketing tools for food products consumed in the host country thereby creating demand for those products in their home country.

Taking cost into consideration, Chaney ( 2008 ) stresses that a reduction in the sunk cost of trade would lead to more firms exporting (extensive margin) while a decreased variable cost would have an incremental effect on both the number of businesses venturing into international trade and the exports per firm (intensive margin). Tourism could be helpful in the reduction of both sunk and variable cost of trade through information exchange on foreign demands, development of transportation infrastructure, and bridging the cultural distance between countries leading to a contraction in cost associated with research on foreign standards and transportation cost (Santana-Gallego et al. 2016 ). Using an extended gravity model of trade, Santana-Gallego et al. ( 2016 ) argues that growth in tourism significantly increases both the likelihood and volume of trade between two nations. On the other hand, cost reduction due to trade between two countries may also encourage travel (Leitão 2010 ). Apart from reduced cost, Santana-Gallego et al. ( 2011a , b ) attributes an increase in tourist inflows to infrastructure development to support trade.

Early research on trade and tourism has generally used trade as an additional variable in tourism demand models. For instance, Eilat and Einav ( 2004 ), Leitão (2010 ), and Surugiu et al. ( 2011 ) suggested international trade to be an important exploratory factor to estimate tourism demand, therefore suggesting that the direction of the relationship flows from international trade to international tourism. This relationship holds true particularly for business trips when disaggregating tourist arrivals on the purpose of visit (Turner and Witt 2001 ). Using the fixed effect and Tobit model approach Surugiu et al. ( 2011 ) lent further support to trade led tourism demand hypothesis. Along with the long-run relationship, Chaisumpunsakul and Pholphirul ( 2018 ) shows that even short-run changes in tourism demand can also be predicted using trade openness. However, in contrast to these results, Habibi et al. ( 2009 ) showed trade openness to be insignificant in determining tourism demand.

There exists another strand of literature that has studied the trade and tourism nexus. Adopting the cointegration and granger causality approach, these researchers generally suggest a bidirectional relationship between trade and tourist arrivals. Examples include Kulendran and Wilson, ( 2000 ) and Shan and Wilson, ( 2001 ) from Australia and China respectively, who have given evidence of feedback mechanism working between the two variables. Making an addition to these findings, Santana-Gallego, et al. ( 2011a , b ) and Santana-Gallego, et al. ( 2011a , b ) using time series and panel data approach respectively, show that there exists a short-run relationship as well between trade and tourism. Extending these findings, Ozcan ( 2016 ) found evidence of both one and two-way causality for Mediterranean countries. Negating these results, Easton ( 1998 ) presented a different picture in his study where he found the relationship between exports and tourism to be supplementary. Khan et al. ( 2005 ) also somehow supported these findings by providing evidence from Singapore that shows trade and tourism to be rarely cointegrated and even rarer cases of causation.

A more meaningful insight for trade and tourism relationship is offered using disaggregated data of products. Aradhyula and Tronstad ( 2003 ), focusing on the cross border trade between Agribusiness firms of Arizona and Sonora in Mexico, have argued that business trips increase the likeliness to trade and business trips also translate into tourist visits. Their findings however only indicate a unidirectional relationship flowing from tourism to trade. Further dwelling into the trade of food and agricultural products researchers show trade and tourism to be not cointegrated. For instance, Fischer and Gil-Alana ( 2009 ) and Gil-Alana and Fischer ( 2010 ) found no long-run relationship between wine trade and tourism. Similar results were reported by Madaleno et al. ( 2016 ) and Madaleno et al. ( 2017 ) for agricultural food products. However, Fischer and Gil-Alana ( 2009 ) suggest outbound tourists have a delayed but positive impact on imports from destination countries. They further suggest that this impact is short-lived and disappears in the long run. The short-run relationship may also differ with both product and market; with some product and market showing no causality, some product and market showing one-way causality and some showing bi-directional causality (Madaleno et al. 2016 , 2017 ). Madaleno et al. ( 2019 ) attribute this promotional effect of tourism on trade to tourists acting as a channel of marketing for local food products.

In the Indian context, tourism demand has been estimated highlighting infrastructure development and past tourist experiences as factors affecting tourist arrivals (Barman and Nath 2019 ). However, the literature on trade and tourism relationship is scant, limited to very few studies (Suresh et al. 2018 ; Suresh and Tiwari 2018 ). Using aggregate times series data, available studies suggest the existence of a feedback mechanism in trade and tourism relationship. Studies using more disaggregate data on trade or tourist arrivals are missing. More importantly, there are hardly any studies that study the trade and tourism relationship in the Indian context using a panel modelling approach. This paper endeavours to fill that gap in the literature.

India and SAARC: Trade and Tourism

India is the biggest country in the association, both in terms of area and GDP. Its geographical proximity to all the countries makes it the most favourable trade partner in the regional bloc. India’s trade with SAARC countries have mostly been favourable to India. For the period under study, there are only a few instances where India’s trade with a SAARC member state has been in deficit (Mainly with Bhutan). However, in the last decade, India’s trade with all the member states in the organisation has been in surplus.

The continuous efforts to increase trade among the region has not been very fruitful though, especially looking at other economic blocs like ASEAN and BRICS (Sinha 2010 ; Singh 2016 ). Even with the Preferential Trade Agreement in 1993 and Free Trade Agreement in 2006, the average intra region trade in the last two decades among the members constitutes about 4.5% of the total trade of the region with exports hovering around 7% (Regmi et al. 2017 ). This abysmal level of trade among SAARC members is generally attributed to sharing comparative advantage in similar products which effectively makes them competitors (Akram 2020 ). Social and political factors are also pointed out as possible reasons for not achieving trade-related expectations (Akram 2020 ). An Exim bank study however suggests fewer trade restrictions among the association countries may help realize the true trade potential of these countries. 4

On the tourism front, SAARC is the most improved region in the world on the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index with India registering the highest improvement in the region. India has witnessed a continued surge in tourist arrivals from SAARC countries in recent years, accounting for almost one-third of total foreign tourist arrivals. An increase in tourist arrivals from these countries can be attributed to two possible reasons. First, easy accessibility to India because of shared borders and minimal visa requirements for most member states. 5 Second, shared cultural heritage between India and other SAARC members (Sinha and Sharma 2020 ). Owing to these cultural linkages, India receives a lot of tourists on account of religious tourism. People from these countries can be further encouraged for travelling to India by devising more liberal travelling policies, improving regional connectivity and encouraging religious tourism (Sinha and Sharma 2020 ).

Data: Source and Characteristic

Tourism is a broader term that encompasses a range of industries, services, and activities that give a complete travel experience to a tourist. In literature, empirical work on tourism demand has generally considered tourist arrivals, days of stay in a destination country, and tourism revenues for proxying tourism growth. Due to the paucity of data, the current study uses tourist arrivals to India from SAARC member states. The foreign tourist arrivals data is sourced from the Indiastats database and annual reports of the ministry of tourism. The sample period of the study is from 1997 to 2018. This is the longest available data series for all the given countries in terms of the number of tourists arriving in India.

Data on India’s trade with SAARC member states has been sourced from Trademap and UN Comtrade (United Nations database on trade statistics). It includes real export and import of goods, thus not accounting for trade in services. This paper also follows earlier research articles in excluding trade in services from the analysis, as trade in services differs significantly with merchandise trade and may interact differently with tourism. Annual data has been used to avoid the problem of seasonality. All variables have been converted into natural logs before carrying out the analysis in Stata 15. Using data in natural logs makes it easier to interpret results, as coefficients can be treated as elasticities.

Econometric Estimation Strategy

This study looks for short-run causality and long-run equilibrium between tourist arrivals and foreign trade (exports and imports) of the SAARC region using panel ARDL estimation. A panel error-correction model can be used to quantify long and short-run causal relationships. The fact that an ECM is made up of lags of dependent variables necessitates the use of a dynamic panel model.

Dynamic Panel ARDL Models

Computing ECM using traditional and Static Panel methods may be deemed invalid due to the proposition of existence of dynamic relationship between the variables. In accordance with Pesaran and Smith ( 1995 ), the present study computes a dynamic panel model for non-stationary dynamic panels with heterogeneous coefficients using the dynamic fixed effect (DFE), mean group (MG), and pooled mean group (PMG) estimators. Therefore, the following Panel ARDL model can be analysed for cointegration analysis given in Eq. 1 :

wherein, δ s refers to the short-run dynamics, and μ ’s present the long-run coefficient. The error correction term can be determined if a set of variables is co-integrated (Engle and Granger 1987 ). Thus, the following single equation is applied to estimate short-run changes and speed of adjustment in the long run.

wherein, E C T t - i = ( Y i , t - i - α - β X i t - 1 ) is an error correction term and φ is the ECT coefficient which reflects the speed of return to the long-run equilibrium following a shock to the system. It shows the regularity of a variable that will converge to equilibrium in the long run. Therefore, it is compulsory that it should be negatively significant.

Pooled MeanGroup, Mean Group and Dynamic Fixed Effect Estimators

The PMG allows short-run parameters, intercepts, and shift speeds in the long-run equilibrium and the error variance to vary across cross-sectional units, even though the long-run coefficient must be the same. The system equation for the PMG model with error correction term (ECT) is as follows:

where X it refers to a k ∗ 1 vector regressor, α i is the group-specific fixed effect and δ ′ s represents the short-run coefficients of dependent and independent variables. β i stands for long-run coefficient and φ i indicates the speed of adjustment. In this context, if φ ij = 0 then there is no long-run association between the variables. On the other hand, a significantly negative value represents that the variables will converge in the long run and attain the equilibrium point in case of any shock in the data.

However, the MG technique only deals with the calculation of a single equation for each cross-sectional unit and the calculated mean with no restrictions on the parameters (Pesaran et al. 1999 ). It computes long-run parameters for the panel by averaging the long-run parameters from the ARDL model for each cross-sectional unit (Rafindadi and Yosuf 2013 ). It is therefore possible to vary the constant, slope, and error variance across cross-sectional units. Furthermore, DFE is a traditional panel estimation technique that involves parameter restrictions, same error correction term across the group, and only the intercept is permitted to vary across cross-sectional units. All three methods provide consistent parameter estimates when panel data has a broad sample, but they may be biased if the model has a homogeneity problem. Furthermore, the Hausman test was used to assess whether or not the sample is homogeneous. Panel ARDL analysis also consists of similar steps that are usually applied in time series analysis: cross-sectional dependency test which is followed by unit root test and cointegration test and finally computation of long run relationships.

Cross-sectional Dependency Test

The cointegration equation and the presence of cross-section dependence in the series should be estimated because in its absence, the results may be considered biased and inconsistent (Breusch and Pagan 1980 ; Pesaran 2004 ). When T > N, Breusch and Pagan ( 1980 ) LM test is used to determine the presence of cross-section dependence among countries. However, in a long panel study, checking for cross-sectional dependency in the first phase of analysis is critical. The basic test devised by Pesaran ( 2004 ) is used for all variables, with test statistics based on the mean of all pair-wise correlation (cross-section pairs) of OLS residuals from the panel data model regression, as stated by Berhane ( 2018 ) the equation can be written as:

where, y it is the explained variable, i = 1 , 2 , ⋯ , N , N refers to the number of members, ( t = 1 , 2 , . . , T ) T represents the period of study and x it is the vector of observed predictor variables. The intercepts and slope coefficients that may differ between panel members are depicted through α ˙ i and β ˙ .

The CD-test statistic of Pesaran ( 2004 ) can be summarised as follows:

where ρ ^ ij represents the computed sample estimates of pair-wise correlation of residuals, μ ^ it and ρ ^ jt from Eq. 6 :

For T > 3, the null hypothesis is cross-sectional freedom, with large values and normally distributed statistics (Pesaran 2004 ).

Panel Unit Root Test

The next step in the ARDL Panel analysis is checking for unit root, which is necessary for investigating the stationarity properties of the variables since most macroeconomic variables exhibit trend. Maddala and Wu ( 1999 ), Choi ( 2001 ), Levin et al. ( 2002 ), and Im et al. ( 2003 ) are examples of first-generation panel unit root tests that presume cross-sectional independence, whereas Bai and Ng ( 2001 , 2004 ) and Pesaran ( 2007 ) are examples of second-generation tests that specifically account for cross-sectional dependency. The research continues with the IPS and Fisher-type experiments, which are first-generation unit-root tests.

Furthermore, the second generation checks, CIPS and Cross-sectionally Augmented Dickey–Fuller (CADF) are used to check and confirm the stationarity of the time-series data under investigation in the presence of cross-section dependence. These tests developed by Pesaran ( 2007 ) include the CADF test, which determines statistics for each segment separately and the CIPS test being the cross-section mean of the former when estimated for each cross-section unit. The null hypotheses for both the tests are that the data series is not stationary.

Berhane ( 2018 ) points out that the technique is based on the assumption that the data collection process goes is like this:

where, v it = ρ i θ t + μ it , θ t represents the common factor and μ it is white noise.

The equation to be calculated for the CADF test is:

where for each cross-section, a t -statistic is acquired for every computed β i . Test statistics for CIPS are the sum of these t-statistics, for which Pesaran ( 2007 ) provides the critical values. The CIPS test produces more accurate and consistent results than the first-generation panel unit root tests, where the panel suffers from cross-sectional dependency.

Panel Cointegration Test

Engle and Granger ( 1987 ) were the first to use the term "cointegration" in literature. It indicates the presence of a long-run association between the variables. Testing for cointegration is based on looking at how the variables traverse together over time in order to reconcile a short-term sudden shock in the long run. Pedroni ( 1999 , 2001 , 2004 ) introduced the tests for cointegration in a panel model setup. These tests came to be recognised as first-generation panel cointegration tests, which overcame the issue of fewer observations and dealt with heterogeneity in slopes and intercept across panel members. However, they ignore the presence of cross-section dependence among members.

Pedroni ( 1999 , 2001 , 2004 ) developed seven statistics drawing on the error term of Engle and Granger ( 1987 ) cointegration test, to identify cointegration in a panel model. The null hypothesis of no cointegration is tested in all seven cases; where four of them are “within-dimension test statistics” (panel), while the rest three are “between-dimension test statistics” (members).

Westerlund ( 2007 ) second-generation test for cointegration, which accounts for cross-sectional dependence, is also adopted for the study. This test is also useful in instances where variables have a different level of integration, provided that the dependent variable is not stationary at level, that is, I(0). The test consists of four statistics based on the rate at which the modification parameter of an error-correction model equals zero. Among them, two are group mean statistics ( G t and G a ) that look for a co-integrating relationship in at least one group. The remaining two that look for cointegration in the whole panel are referred to as panel statistics ( P t a n d P a ). Therefore, a rejection of H 0 (no levels relationship) in any of the four cases can be interpreted as proof of cointegrating relationship in a group or for the entire panel, depending on the test statistics.

Empirical Results

Summary statistics.

Descriptive statistics are informational coefficients that summarises a given data set to give a sense of the data used for analysis. Table Table1 1 indicates that all of the variables have a positive mean value, which is because of employing actual figures of tourist arrivals, exports and imports and not considering growth, as consistently registering negative growth may have given negative mean values. Mean of exports and imports have been computed by totalling exports and imports of India for SAARC countries and dividing the results with the total number of observations. Export has the highest mean and maximum values, while 'tourist' has the lowest mean and minimum values. The highest mean and maximum values for export were expected because India has witnessed trade surplus with SAARC nations. The maximum export value of $8,752,009 was recorded to Bangladesh, which is the biggest trade partner of India among SAARC countries. The minimum export value of $1,087,000 was recorded against Bhutan, which has witnessed an accelerated growth in exports from India. Import is the variable with the lowest minimum value and highest standard deviation. The minimum value of imports was recorded from Maldives, which is the smallest trade partner of India among SAARC countries. The high standard deviation implies that the variance of the import variable is high, which might arise because of heightening of political tensions between India and other SAARC members, leading to restrictions on imports from those countries.

Descriptive statistics.

Sources : Author’s Calculation

Obs indicates the number of observations. *The values are in $ 1000

Correlation Analysis

A correlation matrix in shows the degree and direction of correlation between two variables. The results from correlations analysis are reported in Table Table2. 2 . Tourism and exports are showing a high degree of positive correlation whereas tourism and import are found to be moderately correlated. A positive correlation means that two variables tend to move in the same direction, i.e. when one variable increases the other variable increases, or one variable decreases the other decreases. For instance, the correlation coefficient between tourism and export and tourism is 0.85, which means an increase or decrease of 1 unit in exports will coincide with a 0.85 corresponding increase or decrease in the tourism variable. However, correlation does not translate into causation i.e. one variable is causing the other variable to increase or decrease. It simply means movement in the same direction if there is positive correlation and moving in opposite directions in case of existence of a negative correlation.

Matrix of correlations

A value of 1 indicates perfect correlation. A variable with itself will always have perfect correlation

The findings of the cross-sectional dependency test proposed by Pesaran ( 2004 ) are shown in Table Table3. 3 . In the table, you will find the CD test statistics along with their respective p values. The tests are carried out to test the cross sectional dependency across SAARC countries. As is evident from the table, the probability values in each case are smaller than 0.05, therefore, the H 0 hypotheses of no cross sectional dependency are strongly rejected, suggesting Cross-sectional dependency among the SAARC countries. This shows that a significant change in one country's series has a bearing on others. For instance, a significant change in number of tourist arrivals from Nepal will have an impact on the tourist arrivals from other SAARC countries to India. The Test-statistics and the corresponding p-values indicate the presence or the absence of cross-sectional dependence. The Test-statistics of 14.29 with the corresponding p-value of 0.000 suggests the presence of dependencies between the countries. The dependency indicates that the SAARC countries behave as individual economies being part of one big economic unit, where economic gains and distress are transferrable.

Pesaran’s ( 2004 ) cross-section dependence test

*** p < 0.01, indicates rejection of null hypothesis at 1% significance level

Since the cross-sectional dependency is ascertained, the next step is to identify the order of integration of all variables.

Stationarity Test

The existence of CD is demonstrated among the variables in this analysis; therefore Pesaran ( 2007 ) second-generation unit root test is employed to investigate the variables' order of integration. The results from the first and second generation tests are used to verify the stationary properties and order of integration of variables more effectively. Table Table4 4 presents the results of these tests. Results are shown for level as well as the first difference for each variable. Overall the variables are found to be integrated of order one (I(1)), which means opting for cointegration analysis is appropriate in this case. In other words, stationarity tests have strong implications for the employed methodology. For instance, if the variables are found to be I(1), then the cointegration has to be established. Moreover, in cases where the variables are I (1), the results obtained from Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) are rendered to be inaccurate and interpretations from such estimations could be misleading.

Panel unit root test

* and **represents rejection of null hypothesis at 1% and 5% significance level respectively. The reported values are test statistic at I(0) and I(1) i.e. levels and first difference. IPS Im–Pesaran–Shin, FADF Fourier Augmented Dickey Fuller, CIPS crossectionally augmented IPS, CADF covariate-augmented Dickey Fuller

In Table Table4, 4 , the numbers reported under each unit root tests are statics used to confirm the unit root or the stationarity of the series. For instance, in case of tourism, statistics (− 1.13) reported under I(0) suggest the presence of unit root in the tourism data at level. In other words, it indicates that the tourism series is not stationary at the level form. Similarly, the statistics (− 5.06) reported under I(1) indicates that the first difference form of tourism series is stationary. The asterisk indicates the rejection of null at the first difference form of tourism series.

Cointegration Analysis

As the unit root tests carried out in the Table Table4 4 indicates that the data series are non-stationary, therefore it is important to establish cointegration or long term association among the variables. The presence of unit root test also suggest that the OLS estimations cannot be relied upon as one of the underlying assumptions of OLS is that the data is stationary. Precisely, cointegration tests proposed by Pedroni and Westurlund is carried out to further establish the relationship between the variables. Tables Tables5 5 and and6 6 present the results of Pedroni and Westerlund cointegration experiments that were used to determine the presence of a long-run relationship between the variables. Table Table5 5 shows the results of the Pedroni cointegration tests, which reveal that the null hypothesis of no cointegration is rejected in six out of seven instances, implying that Export, Import and Tourist Arrivals have a long-term relationship.

Pedroni test

*** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, which indicates rejection of null hypothesis at 1% and 5% significance level

Westerlund ( 2007 ): ECM panel cointegration tests

*** p < 0.01, which indicates rejection of null hypothesis at 1% significance level

The results of the Westerlund ( 2007 ) cointegration test are summarised in Table Table6. 6 . Since the variables are cross-sectionally dependent, robust p-values are also derived using the bootstrap technique. It can be observed from the table that the variables share a long-run equilibrium since three of the four test statistics suggest cointegration. Among the four figures, the G a statistic is not statistically significant for any of the sources, but the P t , P a a n d G t statistics all showed the cointegration relationship. The insignificant coefficient of the G a , according to the report, may be attributed to the limited number of observations used for the study. To summarise, the result of this test shows that the variables are in long-run equilibrium.

As mentioned above, results reported in the Tables Tables5 5 and and6 6 is to ascertain the long term relationship between the variables. The null hypothesis in both the cases are no cointegration between the variables. On average, the reported p-values are less than 10% suggesting the presence of cointegration or long term association between the variables. In other words, statistics (along with their corresponding p values) reported in the Tables Tables5 5 and and6 6 provide enough statistical evidence that there is a cointegration among the variables and hence there exists a long term relationship.

Panel ARDL Results

In this section, the result of the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method together with the outcomes from the Hausman specification test (Hausman test), are reported in Table Table7. 7 . The Hausman test was performed between the estimators MG and PMG, and PMG and DFE respectively. As pointed out by Pesaran et al. ( 1999 ), the Hausman test can compare the long-run coefficient estimation method in a long-run estimation. So, if the homogeneity of the coefficient is confirmed, the MG estimation would be more efficient in comparison with PMG. However, if the heterogeneity of the coefficient is the correct model, the MG estimator would be more efficient. According to the results of the Hausman test as reported in the table, the null hypotheses of long-term heterogeneity cannot be rejected at a 1% level of significance, hence the PMG model would be more efficient in model estimation. Although, Table Table7 7 reports coefficients and probability values of all estimators, based on results of Hausman test, the study uses findings of PMG model.

ARDL estimation result

*** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1, which indicates rejection of null hypothesis at different levels of significance. N is the number of observations

In accordance with Table Table7, 7 , the short-run coefficients of PMG estimation reveal that there is no significant relationship between tourism and import. The insignificance of import’s short-run coefficient may arise due to different coefficient for cross-sections. On the other hand, tourism and export have a positively significant relationship both in the short as well as long run. The difference between short and long run is that in the short run at least one factor input is fixed whereas in the long run all inputs are variable. For instance, based on our results we may say that when at least one factor input for tourism demand is fixed, imports will have no significant impact on tourism, whereas in the long run when all factor inputs are variable, we may see significantly positive impact of import on tourism. Conversely, apart from the significant impact of exports on tourism in the long run, the short run impact where atleast one factor is fixed, we may still see a significant impact of exports on tourism.

In the long run, trade has a favourable and statistically important effect on tourists. These results negate the proposition that trade may act as a substitute for tourism and show the relationship between the two variables to be in fact complimentary. The coefficients from the results reported in Table Table7 7 can be interpreted as a 1% increase in exports increases the tourist footfall by 0.33 and 0.40 per cent, in the short and long run, respectively. Additionally, a 1% increase in imports increases the number of tourists by 0.20 per cent in the long run, whereas the short run impact was found to be positive but insignificant.

The error-correction term (ECT) is negative and highly significant, which confirms the results of the cointegration tests performed earlier, indicating a long-run association between the variables. A negative ECT is suggestive of a return to the long-run equilibrium after a shock to the system. An ECT value of -0.38 indicates that 38 per cent of the deviations from the long-run equilibrium after a shock is corrected in the next period (in this case next year). For instance, the global outbreak of Covid 19 exerted an external pressure on the long run equilibrium between tourism and trade by disrupting both activities. However, based on our findings we can say that the 38 per cent deviations in trade and tourism relationship caused by Covid 19 would be corrected the next year, once the restrictions on trade and tourism are removed.

This article uses panel cointegration and ARDL approach to explore trade and tourism relationship for India and other SAARC countries. This is possibly the first such attempt for understanding India’s trade and tourism nexus with a regional bloc. The significance of the study stems from the fact that India contributes a big chunk to travel and tourism GDP in South Asia and has also witnessed a rising number of tourist arrivals from within the region. 6

The results of this article are in conformity with earlier findings that found trade and tourism to be cointegrated in the long run (Çalışkan et al. 2019 ; Katircioglu 2009 ; Kumar et al. 2019 ) and also concur with earlier studies on Indian experience (Suresh et al. 2018 ; Suresh and Tiwari 2018 ). Suggesting both a short and long-run relationship between trade and tourism, these findings are in line with those of Santana-Gallego, et al. ( 2011a , b ). The short-run positive association of trade and tourism found in this study is also found in Santana-Gallego, et al. ( 2011a , b ), as it indicates a short-run causality running from export to tourism. The short-run impact of export on tourism possibly stems from the increased number of business trips undertaken by importers as suggested by Turner ( 2001 ), that trade induces more business visits.

In the long run, both export and import are found to be significant determinants of tourist arrivals. A possible explanation for exports having a positive impact on tourism in the long run is that products in foreign markets increase the recognition and image of a country. Further, and as earlier discussed, exports leads to business trips in the short run and over a period of time these business trips lead to leisure trips. The impact of imports on tourism is smaller in comparison to exports but destination countries that provide tourists with products according to their home taste, do encourage tourists to travel to these countries (Nguyen and Jolly 2013 ). A comparatively smaller effect of imports could be attributed to the reasoning that tourists are satisfied by Indian substitute of their home country products (due to the historical and cultural linkages, India produces similar products as these countries and hence has smaller imports from them). Another possible explanation for this could be the one pointed out by Çalışkan et al. ( 2019 ), that exports from home countries (imports for India) increases the income of exporters and in extension their demand for tourism. Infrastructure development to facilitate trade may also encourage more tourists to travel to India.

The academic intuition behind this work that trade will somehow improve tourism is confirmed from the results. These findings have theoretical implications as it adds to the understanding on trade and tourism relationship. With results suggesting a long-run positive association between the two, inferences can be made that both export and import induce people to travel to a country. These effects may however differ across countries and their respective trade partners (previous studies have found this relationship to vary for a different set of countries) because of different determinants of tourism demand and non-identical trade structure as suggested by Çalışkan et al. ( 2019 ).

The practical implications of the study are more significant as they highlight the importance of cooperation among stakeholders from both sectors. Their cooperation assumes more importance as both these sectors have been identified by researchers as key determinants of economic growth. As exports are found to have a greater impact on tourism than imports, steps taken to increase India’s export basket in the region would go a long way in enhancing its tourism footprint. Policies focussed on improving trade relations, for example, improving transport infrastructure, making the region a common market, etc. would not only be fruitful to India but could also have economic incentives for other SAARC members.

Albeit the contributions this article makes to literature, it has few limitations. First, the study does not differentiate tourists based on the purpose of visit; the results might differ across different kinds of tourists. For instance, using more granular level data on purpose of visit such as religious, leisure, business etc., can provide more insights as to whether reported results are driven by the purpose or it is not contingent on the purpose of visit. Second, the study does not account for other variables that might be useful in determining tourist arrivals. For instance, future studies can explore the role of variables such as crime level, infrastructure development etc., as these variables are expected to be a significant determinant of tourist arrivals. Finally, the aggregate trade data used in the study gives little help in identifying the products that help in increasing tourist arrivals. For instance, if future studies can pinpoint the exact products that drive tourism so that the policymakers can draft more targeted policies to attract tourists. A more insightful view could also be offered on how trade in indigenous products induces travel and vice versa.

Declarations

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

1 (Dreger & Herzer 2013 ; Medina-Smith 2001 ) give evidence of minimal and scattered impact of export on growth. They suggest that export led growth strategy is not universally applicable and successful as a comprehensive economic development strategy.

( https://www.indiatoday.in/diu/story/how-can-india-become-a-5-trillion-economy-by-2024-1560008-2019-07-01 ).

3 A WTTC report pegs “India to be world’s third largest travel and tourism economy by 2028” (World travel & tourism council (WTTC 2018 ).

4 For a more detailed discussion on trade prospects of each SAARC member state, see a study by Exim bank titled “Potential for Enhancing Intra-SAARC Trade: A Brief Analysis (2014)” (Bank 2014 ).

5 Travel requirements for Citizens of Pakistan to India and vice versa are a case in point. The trade and travel restrictions between these countries are owed to the political tension arising out of disputed claims on the region of Jammu and Kashmir( https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/trade-halt-between-india-and-pakistan-worries-traders-in-punjab-and-jammu-and-kashmir/articleshow/73584889.cms?from=mdr ).

6 For a more detailed discussion see a report by Brookings India titled “Travel South Asia: India’s Tourism Connectivity with the Region” (Sinha and Sharma 2020 ).

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India’s Educational and Cultural Cooperation with SAARC countries

South Asia countries (India, Maldives, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan) are known for their common historical past and experience of colonialism under colonial rule. It has likewise continued to play a vital role in the understanding of the cultural and education co-operation of the region. The traditional legacy has played a very vital function in the overall nation-building means of the South Asian region. The close topographical vicinity, as well as cultural bond, has given a characteristic of commonality between these South Asian countries. The values and norms, essentially of Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism, are strongly rooted in South Asian communities. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organization and, a geopolitical union of nations in South Asia established in the year 1985. India has educational and cultural relations with SAARC nations since time immemorial.

India has a legacy of intellectual, educational, cultural and religious synergy with Sri-Lanka. The People of Indian Origin (PIOs) who have settled down in Sri Lanka have contributed to fusing the cultures of both nations, which had signed a Cultural Cooperation Agreement in 1977 for Cultural Exchange Programmes. The India-Sri Lanka Foundation aims at an augmentation of scientific, professional, educational and cultural collaboration through civil society dialogues and magnifying association among the younger contemporaries. The Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) in Colombo fosters awareness of Indian Culture. Recently, the Government of India (GOI) granted an aid of $15 million for the advancement of Buddhist relations between the two nations. Education is another significant field of collaboration. India annually offers various scholarship openings to Sri Lankan students. Since 2017-18, Sri Lankan students have been allowed to appear for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) dental and medical admissions. IIT JEE (Advanced) entrance examinations have likewise begun in Sri Lanka since 2017. Through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Scheme and the Colombo Plan, India has proposed short and medium-term education programs in a broad variety of professional and technical disciplines.

India has shared a time-tested alliance with Bhutan, which is an ideal case of harmony and friendship in South Asia. Bhutan has historically experienced profound cultural intersections with India. A Buddhist saint named Guru Padmasambhava came to Bhutan from India, to perform an instrumental function in expanding Buddhism and connecting ancient links within people from both the countries. India-Bhutan Foundation aims at heightening people to people dialogues in fields like environment protection, scientific, technical research, education and culture. Nehru – Wang chuck Cultural Centre, which is part of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), has also been playing an imperative role in maintaining cultural relations between Bhutan and India. The Ngultrum “total solution” project supported by India in Bhutan was to help generate knowledge-based Bhutanese society. A substantial number of Bhutanese students are studying in India in diverse courses. Under Graduate and Post –Graduate Scholarships, Nehru-Wang chuck Scholarships, Ambassador’s Scholarship, Aid-to-Bhutan ICCR Scholarship, and ITEC Training Programme Scheme have helped in cementing the bilateral educational ties for many years.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan has been a major craft and trading Centre for beyond 2000 years combining the civilizations of Central Asia, India and Persia. India-Afghanistan relations are intended to deal with difficult situations and bring harmony and prosperity in the nation. Both share a centuries-old cultural legacy with deeply established linkages in the area of architecture, language, music, arts and cuisine. Indian movies and television series are widely celebrated among the Afghani people. India-Afghanistan Foundation encourages cultural and people to people connections. India has proceeded to increase education and training opportunities through the ICCR and ITEC scholarships, and multilateral financed programmes. India declared one of the most extensive and on-going programmes in the world that will last for a further period of five years from 2017 to 2022 in the field of capacity building, education etc. in Afghanistan. India will have to search for avenues to expand in providing scholarships in engineering, medical and management institutes. Due to India’s restructuring programme for Afghanistan, it has continually endeavored to take up plans and assignments that will represent Afghanistan’s cultural heritage.

Nepal has been an indispensable part of the wider cultural past and tradition of the Indian sub-continent. Every year, innumerable Nepalis visit pilgrimage sites in India like Bodh Gaya, Hrishikesh, Kedarnath etc. and Indians on the other hand visit places like Lumbini, Pashupatinath temple and many more. Lord Buddha, who was born in Nepal, has left his traces not just in South Asia but also across the globe. Indian movies, music and language are an added segment of the India-Nepal cultural connection. Likewise, the distinct Nepali cultural elements such as theatre, fine arts, folk dance and classical music have been mixing with their counterparts in India. India provides thousands of scholarships every year to Nepali students in diverse courses and subjects. The Swami Vivekananda Centre for Indian Culture in Kathmandu has produced significant goodwill through numerous cultural occasions. Many India-Nepal Friendship associations work to support Indian culture and India-Nepal mutual ties.

India-Pakistan ties have long been laden with strains. Nevertheless, with burgeoning young populations and a shared cultural legacy, ties between both may quite well depend on how younger contemporaries understand the other side. In terms of culture, Pakistani actors and musicians have relished an extensive reputation in India, with many achieving overnight celebrity status in the Indian film industry Bollywood. Furthermore, Indian film and music are very widespread across Pakistan. India and Pakistan, especially Eastern Pakistan and Northern India, to some sort have similar cuisines, cultures and languages due to common Indo-Aryan heritage that traverse through the two nations and through much of the northern subcontinent that likewise stimulated the traditional affinities between the two countries. Educational and cultural empowerment should push for an effective reconciliation between the two nations. Pakistan should take the SAARC organization seriously to collaborate culturally and educationally. From the colonial period to today, education and culture have been a mechanism used to separate the people of the subcontinent. If these elements of soft power can transform the world, it can likewise draw India and Pakistan closer as well.

Both nations share deep cultural bonds with the exchange of cultural groups. The ICC, which was instituted in Male in 2011, handles regular sessions in yoga and other cultural classes. In the Maldives, Indian experts from India renovated historical mosques such as Fenfushi Mosque, Friday Mosque and Dharumavantha Rasgefaanu Mosque. Like many other South Asian nations in the Maldives Indian films, music and television serials are widely embraced. The GOI signed an agreement with the Government of Maldives for a US$5.30 million project for the Technology Adoption Programme in the Education Sector where more than 5000 Maldivian teachers and youth across Islands have been trained for IT skills. India remains a favored stop for the Maldivians concerning education and medical treatment. Apart from this, SAARC Chair Fellowship, Medical scholarships, ICCR scholarships and many more are offered to Maldivian students.

India and Bangladesh have close traditional, ethnic and cultural connections. The India-Bangladesh Cultural Agreement includes a variety of areas of collaboration recognized through the Cultural Exchange Programmes. The Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) of the ICCR of India in Bangladesh has cultural courses that are very widespread among Bangladeshi students. ‘Bharat Bichitra’, a High Commission of India Bengali literary print monthly magazine in Bangladesh has been widely read for decades. India also offers many scholarships to meritorious students in various courses including Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy.

To conclude, SAARC nations should endeavor at rising as a region of harmony and stability and pick up the strings and re-establish politically, culturally, socially and economically. The region shares certain common educational problems like low literacy standards, poor school infrastructure, and inferior quality of education, lack of excellence and access, large dropout rates, and scarce funding. One-fourth of the global population dwells in South Asia, a densely populated geographical region in the world. However, the education gap and unemployment are very high. Education is a quintessential base for the cultural, social and economic progress of the region’s economy. The concept of collaboration in the education division was put forth at the very beginning of the SAARC summit but limited progress was made in the last few decades. The piecemeal policies and distribution of education objectives into various committees and sub-committees have diminished the speed of advancement.

There is a need to harness the field of open distance education, but the important issue that is affecting the educational sector is the absence or lack of implementation. In the age of technology, artificial intelligence, growing middle class and a large young population, proper education and training skills are mandatory. It is high time for SAARC nations to unfold shared educational discussions and collaborative approaches for growing global demand in education. Both education and culture as elements of soft power can be a pathway of understanding, wisdom, peace and prosperity for nations. The youth is the future in the region should move ahead with an optimistic mindset and strive to discuss the common interests of one another. There is a need for more educational and cultural collaboration programmes that can significantly cement diplomatic ties between countries. Cooperation in education strives to present the contours of education so that knowledge is not confined within the boundaries of India. The establishment of South Asian University in New Delhi is a significant milestone in the SAARC region co-operation. Likewise, The South Asian Foundation provides scholarships to two students from each SAARC member nation each year to continue their higher education in any of the UNESCO Madanjeet Institutions of excellence.

Historically, India has been the destination of opportunity for students from the SAARC region. However, since 2017-18, India has seen a dip in the incoming students as more students are heading to China due to the latter’s soft power tactics of offering a large number of scholarships. Taking this into consideration GOI should increasing more scholarships, subsidize fees for students, provide more attractive perks and enhance national knowledge network partnerships by holding regular discussions through ICCR, Ministry of Human resource development (HRD) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The possibility for a better educational and cultural co-operation will depend on India’s compliance to construct a common path picture for the SAARC region by pushing the Indian ambitions of being a regional power and further to keep a check on the Chinese sway in the region. China that is already suffering backlash due to COVID has been hit hard even in its soft power where many international students have fled China. This is the right time for India to push for better cultural and educational ties in the SAARC region.