While it’s well known that Bangladesh Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus wants South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) revived, he has now raised the issue with Sergio Gor, the US ambassador-designate to India who will also play the role of Special Envoy for South and Central Asia.
Yunus met Gor on the margins of the ongoing UNGA session in New York. According to Dhaka, the chief advisor noted that the interim government has intensified efforts to revive SAARC, which has not held a summit in over a decade.
SAARC summits are held biennially but the process has remained stalled since the summit in Kathmandu in 2014. The Uri terrorist attack in 2016 put paid to the summit that Pakistan was scheduled to host that year and India has since maintained Pakistan’s continued support for cross-border terrorism has made unfeasible the SAARC dialogue, including summits and important meetings.
However, India has continued to support SAARC activities in diverse sectors for closer cooperation and blamed Pakistan for blocking trade and connectivity initiatives in the region. While it hasn’t withdrawn from the Association, India has sought to strengthen regional cooperation through the BIMSTEC grouping in which Pakistan is not a member.
The US readout said regional cooperation was discussed but didn’t specifically mention SAARC. Bangladesh didn’t say what Gor’s response was to Yunus’ remarks on SAARC but India will be wary of any external pressure to resume the summit process. The idea of Pakistan hosting even a virtual summit has been rendered a non-starter because of the Pahalgam terrorist attack that led to a dramatic military clash between India and Pakistan.
India sees the appointment of Gor as ambassador by the Trump administration as a welcome development but will guard against any US attempt to intrude into South Asian affairs through Gor’s dual role, particularly if it has any security fallout for the region. India is already worried about security challenges that Dhaka’s warming ties with Pakistan might entail. It has shown little interest so far in Yunus’ efforts to, as he said earlier, revive the spirit of SAARC.
While countries like Bangladesh and Nepal seek a resumption of the summit process, India maintains that there has been no material change in the situation since the 19th summit that Pakistan had to host was postponed and that there’s no consensus among members on the meeting.
India closely followed a China-Pakistan-Bangladesh trilateral meeting at Kunming, taking note of reports that this was an effort to create a new bloc in the region, However, Dhaka later denied this was an effort to forge an alliance against any country.
Yunus also discussed with Gor the Rohingya crisis, and the “proliferation of disinformation targeting Dhaka”. Yunus has in the past described as fake news some of the reports in Indian media about targeting of Hindus in Bangladesh .
According to Dhaka, Yunus also expressed Bangladesh’s interest in joining ASEAN, stating that integration with Southeast Asian economies could significantly accelerate the country’s development. He told Gor Dhaka is
making “comprehensive preparations” to ensure a free, fair, and peaceful general election in the first half of February.