By P.K.Balachandran/Sunday Observer

Colombo, August 31 – Pakistan and Bangladesh are now seriously seeking the revival of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Both see the usefulness of SAARC in tackling issues the two countries are currently facing vis-à-vis India, the dominant power in South Asia.       

Pakistan and Bangladesh are aware that, individually, they cannot meet the challenges posed by a much bigger and stronger India. Therefore, they have opted for a collective approach which, among other things, includes the revival of SAARC.

This was amply clear during the recent visit of the Pakistan Deputy Prime  Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Bangladesh. A commitment to the revival of SAARC was the high point of the visit. It was “the” agenda that emerged from the talks between Ishaq Dar and the Chief Advisor of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, Dr.Muhammad Yunus.    

Genesis and Decline of SAARC

SAARC was founded in 1985 at the initiative of Bangladesh for collective development and collective security in South Asia. But over the last 40 years it had fallen into disuse because of the never-ending feud between India and Pakistan over terrorism and Kashmir, mutual suspicions, and also India’s preference for bilateral over multi-lateral ties to promote its interests. 

However, despite the poor performance, there is still a felt need in many South Asian capitals such as Islamabad, Dhaka, Kathmandu and Colombo, to breathe life into the comatose organization.

And as a first step towards this end, efforts are being made by Pakistan and Bangladesh to strengthen Bangladesh-Pakistan bilateral ties in the hope that eventually, other South Asian nations will do the same and thereby help revive SAARC.  

Current Context

Both Pakistan and Bangladesh have been having stand offs with neighbouring India. Pakistan has been at daggers drawn with India over Kashmir since its very inception in 1947. And Bangladesh has been at odds with India since 1975, when the pro-India Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated by anti-Indian elements in the Bangladesh army.

Of course, there was exceptional Indo-Bangla bonhomie when Sheikh Hasina was ensconced in power in Dhaka for a decade, but that went up in smoke when she was overthrown in August 2024 partly because of her close ties with India. But for good part of post-independence Bangladesh history, India-Bangladesh relations had been tense.    

The first stable ruler to emerge in Bangladesh after Mujibur Rahman’s assassination was the military dictator Gen.Ziaur Rahman who assumed charge in the late 1970s. A promoter of “Bangladeshi nationalism” as opposed to “Bengali nationalism”, as opposed to Mujib’s Bengali nationalism, Zia floated the idea of having an organization for the collective development and collective security of South Asia that would, at the same time, mitigate the dominance of India.

Zia persuaded Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, initially to agree to create a trade bloc projecting it as a potential ASEAN. In December 1977, he discussed it with Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai. King Birendra of Nepal picked up the threads in his inaugural speech to the Colombo Plan Consultative Committee held at Kathmandu in 1977.

The security threat to South Asia posed by USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, speeded up the move to establish a South Asian union. Foreign Ministry officials of seven South Asia countries met in Colombo in April 1981 where the Bangladeshi proposal was endorsed by Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Maldives. But India and Pakistan had reservations. India feared that Zia’s proposal for a regional organisation might provide an opportunity for smaller neighbours to internationalize bilateral issues and jointly counter Indian moves. Pakistan saw the move as a plan to overwhelm it.   

However, after a series of diplomatic consultations led by Bangladesh it was agreed that the foreign secretaries of the concerned nations will take the matter forward. A “Committee of the Whole” met in Colombo in September 1981 and identified five broad areas for regional cooperation.

In 1983, at a meeting held in Dhaka, foreign ministers of the seven countries adopted the Declaration on South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the union was established officially in Dhaka. Kathmandu was designated as its headquarters.  

The first SAARC summit was held in Dhaka on 7–8 December 1985  hosted by the President of Bangladesh Hussain Mohamed Ershad. Ziaur Rahman had been assassinated in 1981 by a bunch of disgruntled army officers much like how Mujibur Rahman was in 1975.

SAARC held 18 summits where all kinds of projects were floated. But it had precious little to show on the ground, due to internal contradictions chiefly between India-Pakistan. And, as stated earlier,  India began to prefer exclusive bilateral ties over multilateral ties.

The last time the leaders of SAARC met was in Kathmandu in 2014. The next summit in 2016 in Pakistan was cancelled as India would not attend it blaming Pakistan for the terrorist attack on an Indian military base in Uri. SAARC has been in a comatose state since then.

Revival Efforts

However, periodically, there have been attempts to revive SAARC by countries other than India. Most recently, there has been an intense interest in its revival in Bangladesh following pro-India Shaikh Hasina’s forced exist in August 2024. In this, Bangladesh has secured the support of Pakistan which had had a hot war with India in May.

Last week, during the visit of the Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar  to Bangladesh, revival of SAARC figured prominently in the talks between Ishaq Dar and the Chief Advisor of the Interim government of Bangladesh Dr. Muhammad Yunus. Media reports said that Yunus stressed the need to reinvigorate all possible channels of regional and bilateral collaboration, including SAARC.

“I encourage SAARC, and I see our relationship with Pakistan and other SAARC countries as one of the highest priorities,” Yunus said. Ishaq Dar reciprocated saying – “Every time Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and I met, we spoke about SAARC. Our visions are aligned, and SAARC remains a top priority for both of us.”

Bangladeshi and Pakistani officials talked about expanding commerce, promoting youth exchanges, broadening educational and cultural ties, and reenergising regional partnership via SAARC. Conversations included rejuvenating historical ties, encouraging youth engagement, improving connectivity, and increasing trade and economic cooperation. The plan is to put all these within the framework of SAARC.

Both leaders voiced hope that increased trade, richer cultural interchange, and regional cooperation would “foster a steadier and more flourishing South Asia.” A report in the Pakistani daily Dawn echoed the sentiments expressed in Dhaka, especially the wish to revitalise SAARC.

To gauge the depth of friendship towards Pakistan, Dar interacted with personalities from different walks of life, bureaucrats, the leadership of all major political parties, vice chancellors, members of intelligentsia and think tanks, artists, journalists, and retired Generals.

Pakistan and Bangladesh had already agreed to grant visa-free entry to holders of diplomatic and official passports from the other side  when the Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Dhaka. An MoU was also signed between the Foreign Service academies of both countries, while another MoU was inked between the Associated Press of Pakistan and the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha to further media cooperation. In the domain of strategic studies, an MoU was signed between the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad and Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies.

Pakistan’s Interest in Bangladesh

In a world of shifting geopolitical landscapes, Pakistan recognizes that Bangladesh’s economic rise as a regional power presents opportunities for collaboration, a Pakistani commentator wrote. Both aim to foster an innovative alliance grounded in economic cooperation and visionary diplomacy, she added.  

With shared regional responsibilities, Pakistan and Bangladesh are well-poised to create pathways that enhance not only their bilateral ties but also the broader South Asian community, the analyst said.

Trade between Bangladesh and Pakistan had surged by 20% in the 2024-25 fiscal year to US$ 865 million, driven by a political thaw and stepped-up business contacts after the shift in power in August last year.

Three months after the change of power in Dhaka, a Pakistan-flagged cargo vessel docked at Chattogram Port for the first time from Karachi. Trade and port restrictions recently clamped by India on Bangladesh as a consequence of the fraught relations have given a fillip to Bangladesh’s trade with other countries, including Pakistan.

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Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Regional hegemony, SAARC, Ishaq Dar, Muhammad Yunus,