Commentary: Attempts at greater South Asian unity remain hostage to India-Pakistan tensions

Amid the amped up din of the most recent conflict, a few key lessons emerge, which need to be recognised if the South Asian subcontinent is to at some point break out of the cycle of animosity and distrust that is holding over one billion people back from true, tangible, social and economic progress. ASEAN’s 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia commits members to reject the use or threat of force and peacefully settle inter-state disputes, and in 2008 conflict between Thailand and Cambodia was successfully defused before it could escalate. “The value of ASEAN is shown in the fact that relatively speaking this is one of the less nervous regions in the world,” said Mr Mahbubani, distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and author of several books on geopolitics including The ASEAN Miracle (2017).