Resource Base Erosion and Sustainable Development in South Asia

Development in South Asia Akmal Hussain As we look to the future, an urgent need is felt for a new approach to development' A perspective within which people in their diverse locations can acquire control over the decisions that affect their immediate existence; in which autonomy of communities and states can be sought from the tentacles of an international financial system that is serving as a conduit for transferring real resources out of the fragile resource base of the poor; in which production and economic growth are conducted to sustain life rather than serving to undermine it. In exploring these questions, this paper examines the resource potential of south Asia and the extent of its degradation and presents an outline of an approach to sustainable development through establishing a link between two levels of development praxis