Pakistan, Bangladesh Seek Salvation in the Revival of SAARC

Both see the geopolitical and economic usefulness of an organisation that was wilfully abandoned by India in pursuit of its self-interest.

Pakistan and Bangladesh are now seriously seeking the revival of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Both see the usefulness of SAARC, which was wilfully abandoned by India in pursuit of its self-interest over a decade ago.

Pakistan and Bangladesh are aware that, individually, they cannot meet the challenges posed by Big Brother India in South Asia. Therefore, they have opted for a collective approach which, to begin with, means the revival of SAARC.

As the recent visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Bangladesh showed, the revival of SAARC is on top of the bilateral agenda.

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 has fallen into disuse because of the never-ending feud between India and Pakistan, mutual suspicions, and also India’s preference for bilateral over multilateral ties to promote its interests.

Though SAARC is now a non-functioning organisation, there is still a felt need in both Islamabad and Dhaka (and indeed in other South Asian capitals) to breathe life into the organisation.

As a first step towards this end, efforts are being made to strengthen Bangladesh-Pakistan bilateral ties with the hope that other South Asian nations will do the same so that SAARC is revived eventually.

Tensions With India

Both Pakistan and Bangladesh have feuds 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 Indo-Bangla bonhomie when Sheikh Hasina was in power in Dhaka for a decade, but that went up in smoke when she was overthrown in August 2024, having been accused of being an Indian lackey.

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

Zia persuaded seven South Asian nations, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to agree to create a trade bloc and also to provide a platform for the people of South Asia to work together in a spirit of friendship, trust, and understanding. He projected it as a South Asian ASEAN.

In December 1977, Zia 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. After the security threat to South Asia posed by the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, efforts to establish a South Asian union were accelerated.

Foreign Ministry officials of the seven countries met in Colombo in April 1981, where the Bangladeshi proposal was endorsed by Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives. But India and Pakistan were sceptical. India feared that Zia’s proposal for a regional organisation might provide an opportunity for smaller neighbours to internationalise bilateral issues and jointly counter Indian moves. Pakistan suspected a sinister Indian hand behind the move to create SAARC.

However, after a series of diplomatic consultations led by Bangladesh it was agreed that Bangladesh would prepare a working paper for discussion among the foreign secretaries of South Asian countries. The foreign secretaries in turn delegated the task to a Committee of the Whole, in Colombo, in September 1981, which 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 the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the union was established officially in Dhaka. Kathmandu was designated as the headquarters.

The first SAARC summit was held in Dhaka on 7–8 December 1985, hosted by the President of Bangladesh Hussain Ershad as Zia had been assassinated in 1981.

SAARC held 18 summits where all kinds of projects were floated. But it had precious little to show on the ground, due to the perpetual India-Pakistan conflict over terrorism and Kashmir. India also suspected SAARC to be an instrument to keep India in check. India preferred to build 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, blaming Pakistan for the terrorist attack on an Indian military base in Uri in 2016. SAARC has been in a comatose state since then, only carrying out some small functions.

Revival Efforts

However, periodically, there have been attempts to revive SAARC by countries other than India.

Bangladesh had cast its lot with India when the pro-India Sheikh Hasina was in power in that country. But following her forced exit in 2024, Bangladesh has revived the bid to kickstart SAARC. In this, it has secured the support of Pakistan, which had had, only in May this year, a hot war with India.

Pak-Bangla Talks  

Late last month, during the visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Bangladesh, the two countries pledged to revive SAARC. Indeed, 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 said – “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 re-energising 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.

“By October, we hope Fly Jinnah will launch direct flights between our two countries. The PIA is also expected to launch direct flights to Dhaka once the airline is privatised,” Ishaq Dar said. 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, including advisers of the Bangladeshi government, bureaucrats, leadership of all major political parties, vice-chancellors, members of the intelligentsia and think tanks, sportsmen, 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 the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies.

Pakistan’s Interest in Bangladesh

In a world of shifting geopolitical landscapes, Pakistan recognises that Bangladesh’s economic rise as a regional power presents opportunities for collaboration, not competition. Both nations aim to foster an innovative alliance grounded in economic cooperation and visionary diplomacy, a Pakistani analyst wrote.

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 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. The Bangladesh National Board of Revenue said imports from Pakistan comprised raw materials for garments, leather, clinker, fabrics, cotton, onions, and potatoes. Bangladesh mainly shipped tea, ready-made garments, and raw jute to Pakistan.