Pakistan, China, Bangladesh Push For New Bloc To Counter India, Replace SAARC-OxBig News Network

New Delhi: Pakistan and China are reportedly working together to establish a new regional grouping aimed at replacing the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), where India was once a key player.

India Today, citing a report from The Express Tribune of Pakistan, stated that discussions between Islamabad and Beijing on forming this new bloc are already at an advanced stage. The report also noted that Bangladesh participated in a recent meeting held in Kunming, China, on June 19 to explore the creation of the proposed group.

According to The Express Tribune, the primary goal of the Kunming meeting was to extend invitations to other South Asian nations, many of them former SAARC members, to join this emerging regional platform. The development follows a China-Pakistan-Afghanistan trilateral dialogue held in May, which focused on expanding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and deepening cooperation with Afghanistan’s Taliban-led regime.

SAARC, established on December 8, 1985, in Dhaka, had originally included seven countries, with Afghanistan joining in 2007. The bloc has been largely inactive since 2016. While there hasn’t been an official SAARC summit since 2014 in Kathmandu, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did host a virtual SAARC leaders’ conference in 2020 to propose a COVID-19 Emergency Fund, pledging $10 million from India.

The 19th SAARC summit was scheduled for Islamabad in November 2016, but India withdrew following the Pakistan-sponsored terror attack in Uri that killed 17 Indian soldiers. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Bhutan also pulled out, citing terrorism and regional instability, leading to the summit’s cancellation and an indefinite pause in SAARC activity.

The Express Tribune report claimed that both China and Pakistan believe a new regional framework is essential for enhancing integration and connectivity in South Asia. Countries such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Afghanistan are also expected to be included in the proposed bloc.

However, Bangladesh has dismissed any notion of a political alliance taking shape. M Touhid Hossain, foreign affairs adviser to the Bangladesh government, clarified that the Kunming meeting was a routine official-level discussion and “not political in nature.”

“We are not forming any alliance,” Hossain said, adding, “There was no element of formation of any alliance” during the discussions.

According to diplomatic sources cited in the report, India may be extended an invitation to join the new group. However, given New Delhi’s strategic differences, its participation is considered unlikely.