Islamabad,. Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has prominently raised the demand for forming a new regional body in place of the long-defunct South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). In the program organized at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), Dar has also threatened India through gestures. He warned that South Asia can no longer remain trapped in a zero-sum mindset, political fragmentation and poor regional architecture.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Dar says that Pakistan wants regionalism that is open and inclusive of everyone. He noted Pakistan’s support for emerging multilateral platforms outside SAARC. Dar said that earlier this year, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China have created a trilateral mechanism to promote mutual cooperation in areas of common interest. This mechanism has been created especially against India, from which Bangladesh has already distanced itself. Here Dar made an indirect reference to India and said, this concept can be expanded and replicated. As I have said earlier, groups with different geometries cannot and should not be held hostage to anyone’s strictures on issues ranging from economy to regional priorities.
It is noteworthy that recently a three-way meeting of Pakistan, China and Bangladesh was held in Kunming, which was the first meeting of its kind. This was an important step in the ongoing negotiations. SAARC was once considered the EU of South Asia. This organization has been inactive since 2016. That year, India had boycotted the summit to be held in Islamabad due to Pakistan’s involvement in the terrorist attacks in India. At that time, Bangladesh also did the same under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina. In his speech, the Pakistani Foreign Minister appealed to the South Asian countries to get out of the burden of history and cooperate in security, economy, climate adaptation and connectivity. Referring to the India-Pakistan conflict that took place in May, he said that this is evidence which shows how fragile this region remains.
