The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an eight-member bloc including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka aimed to replicate institutionalised regional cooperation and development similar to groups like ASEAN and MERCOSUR for the South Asian region.
Since 2016, diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan lead to the organisation being largely inactive. Currently, the region has had nations shifting toward smaller groups like BIMSTEC (which includes India, Bangladesh, and others but excludes Pakistan) or CPEC (focused on Pakistan and China)