NEW YORK: The leaders of Pakistan and Bangladesh have discussed means to revive the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), a regional bloc of eight nations that has remained inactive since 2016, mainly due to tensions between the amalgam’s key heavyweights Islamabad and New Delhi.
Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to Yunus told Turkish media that during the meeting with Pakistani leader Shehbaz Sharif, Bangladesh chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus have discussed reviving SAARC which has remained no-functional for around a decade. The two leaders held talks on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly in New York.
SAARC
Shafiqul Alam said that the chief adviser argued that SAARC can emerge as a true platform for regional cooperation, adding can work for around two billion people in South Asia.
Established in 1985, SAARC comprises of eight-member nations —Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. And Bangladesh’s interim leader Yunus has urged Pakistan to help revitalize the SAARC during his recent bilateral meeting with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of UNGA.
In a statement, Pakistan’s mission to the United Nations said that the two leaders agreed that there was a need to work closely at many levels including bilateral, regional, and multilateral for the development and progress of the people of both nations.
Dr Yunus emerged as the interim leader of Bangladesh following student protests in August ended the 15-year ruthless rule of Sheikh Hasina Wajid, who resigned and fled to India, with which she had cultivated close relations for years. Dr Yunus led government has demanded India to extradite Sheikh Hasina.
After her flight to New Delhi, Sheikh Hasina reportedly blamed Washington for her ouster. But American said it had no role in her removal, calling accusations of Washington’s interference in Dhaka’s internal affairs ” false.”
Dr Yunus is making hard efforts to bolster the regional initiatives such as SAARC. Dr Yunus was of the view that it can be a very fantastic regional cooperation like the European Union (EU). “Dr Yunus thinks we can create an atmosphere for stability and peace in the region,” Alam added. Alam further said that Bangladesh’s interim leader is also talking with New Delhi about reviving the SAARC.
