Answer:Within the regional GROUPING, the only country at disadvantage under the SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) is invariably India. It is not a problem with the agreement per se, but it is India's growth POSITION in a grouping dominated by LDC's (Least Developed Countries). Intentions of SAARC could have been noble about regional integration, but the ground reality paints a DIFFERENT picture. I am trying to emphasis why SAARC in particular has no future and place in the Indian economy.

SAPTA has a peculiar LDC-Centric discounting mechanism that benefits member countries in BoP deficits and other crises to impose tariff barriers while at the same time seek discounts in receiving unfavorable tariff reciprocity for their own exports. That is an undue benefit, with no ‘overdraft quota’ like mechanism to keep failing states accountable.

I wonder on what grounds India can consider itself a beacon of hope and a generous donor for a bunch of other countries, when three-fourths of arable land in India is effectively susceptible to drought. An average of 12,000 farmer suicides per year pegs the daily count to 30 suicides per day.

Almost all the countries in the grouping are empirically working examples to prove Twin Deficits HYPOTHESIS. Twin deficits are when an economy has fund its import budget with foreign debt. It is a double whammy. Look no further than Pakistan & Sri LANKA. Their economies are structured to live on such deficit for the next few decades