Regional integration has become a widespread practice after the end of World War II. The intensification of globalization in 1990s and end of cold war imparted fresh momentum to regional integration. The European Union is the most successful example of regional integration. However, the integration theories like Neo­functionalism and Liberal Intergovernmentalism and others, based exclusively on European experience are inadequate to throw light on integration process in other regions like South Asia. In spite of institutionalized efforts in the form of establishment of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 1985, South Asia Continues to be the least integrated region of the world. The fundamental region for its failure is the lack of background consensus among regional actors on the core issues of peace and development. In comparison, European integration was driven by this consensus, brought about by the devastation of the World War II. This calls for an alternative approach for regional integration in South Asia. This may be termed as Bottom­Up Approach, which aims at adopting those strategies and practices like bilateral and sub­regional cooperative mechanisms, which may create and sustain the background consensus, a prerequisite for initiating regional integration process.

Keywords: Integration Process; Background Consensus; Bottom­Up Approach; Saarc.