Bangladesh’s Yunus huddles with Pakistan in futile promotion of SAARC
Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh’s interim government leader, is pushing hard to bring back the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The group has been stuck in neutral for more than a decade, largely because of tensions over Pakistan’s role in cross-border terrorism and blocking key projects.
Yunus brought up the issue during his recent trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. He pointed out that SAARC summits haven’t happened since the last one in Kathmandu back in 2014. Just weeks earlier, on August 24, Yunus discussed restarting SAARC talks with Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar during a meeting in Dhaka.
SAARC kicked off in Dhaka on December 8, 1985, with big goals: boosting economic and social growth, cultural ties, and stability across its eight members—Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. India once saw SAARC as a key player for South Asia, but ongoing concerns about Pakistan’s support for terrorism have kept it from moving forward. New Delhi argues that Pakistan’s actions make real progress impossible.
Those roadblocks led to a big shift in 2016, right after the Uri terror attack in India. That’s when countries turned to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) as a fresh alternative. BIMSTEC started on June 6, 1997, linking seven nations: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka from South Asia, plus Myanmar and Thailand from Southeast Asia. It skips the headaches tied to Pakistan and focuses on trade, tech cooperation, better connections, and security.
For India, BIMSTEC is a smart way to build ties without the usual drama. It links South Asia with Southeast Asia, tying together the Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted this back in June 2017, on BIMSTEC’s 20th anniversary. “BIMSTEC not only connects South and Southeast Asia, but also the ecologies of the Great Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal,” Modi said. “With shared values, histories, ways of life, and destinies that are interlinked, BIMSTEC represents a common space for peace and development. For India, it is a natural platform to fulfill our key foreign policy priorities of Neighbourhood First and Act East.”
India also uses BIMSTEC to push back against China’s growing influence in the region. Without Pakistan in the mix, India can strengthen old links to Southeast and East Asia through key shipping routes. As the main security player in the Indian Ocean, India eyes the whole Indo-Pacific for trade booms and growth opportunities.
Meanwhile, India watches closely as Bangladesh and Pakistan warm up ties, especially with some radical Islamist groups drawing them closer under Yunus. Tensions on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border add to the worry. Pakistan has ramped up diplomatic and military moves in Bangladesh lately. India wants to keep Bangladesh as a strong BIMSTEC partner, aligned with its Act East strategy, and steer clear of any slide toward extremism.
Bangladesh faces tough times since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left. The economy is slowing down, with high inflation, shrinking foreign reserves, falling remittances, and political chaos scaring off investors. Health issues are piling on too. The World Bank predicts real GDP growth will drop to just 3.3 percent in fiscal year 2025. That’s due to weaker private and public spending, plus higher borrowing costs and input prices hitting industries hard.
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