Bangladesh pitches SAARC revival at BIMSTEC meet, calls for closer regional cooperation
At a BIMSTEC-related meeting, Bangladesh's representative called for SAARC and BIMSTEC to function as complementary rather than competing regional frameworks, citing SAARC's decades-old cooperation mechanisms on disaster management, public health, and transnational crime.
The renewed push for SAARC revival reflects a shift in Dhaka's regional posture under Bangladesh's current government, which took office in 2026.
India's position, conveyed through its Ministry of External Affairs, continues to attribute SAARC's stalled status to the unresolved bilateral relationship with one member state, while New Delhi has prioritised expanding BIMSTEC engagement instead.
SAARC has remained functionally inactive for roughly a decade, with the last full summit not held since 2014 and a scheduled 2016 summit called off following a terrorist attack traced to a member state.
SAARC — Origins, Structure, and Current Stalemate
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established when its founding Charter was signed in Dhaka on 8 December 1985, by Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka; Afghanistan joined later as the eighth member (2007). Its Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 17 January 1987. SAARC operates on the principle of unanimity and excludes bilateral and contentious issues from its agenda, a design meant to insulate cooperation from disputes between members.
Key Details
- Founding members (7): Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka; Afghanistan added in 2007 as the 8th member
- Decision-making requires unanimity among all member states, which has made the bloc vulnerable to being blocked by any single member
- The 19th SAARC Summit, scheduled for Islamabad in 2016, was called off after India and several other members withdrew participation following the Uri terror attack; no summit has been held since the 18th (Kathmandu, 2014)
- SAARC has observer status for several external countries and organisations, including China, the US, the EU, and Japan, but no observer has been upgraded to full membership
Bangladesh's call to revive SAARC directly confronts this decade-long stalemate, which India attributes to the unresolved relationship with Pakistan rather than to any structural flaw in SAARC itself.
BIMSTEC — India's Preferred Alternative Regional Framework
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was established through the Bangkok Declaration of 6 June 1997, initially as "BIST-EC" among Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, later expanding to include Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan. Unlike SAARC, BIMSTEC excludes Pakistan and links South Asia with Southeast Asia via the Bay of Bengal, which has made it India's preferred vehicle for regional cooperation since SAARC's stagnation.
Key Details
- Seven members: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand — five South Asian and two Southeast Asian (ASEAN) states
- The BIMSTEC Charter was signed at the 5th Summit (held virtually, Colombo) on 30 March 2022, but entered into force only on 20 May 2024, after Nepal completed ratification as the last of the seven members
- The Charter gives BIMSTEC formal legal personality for the first time since its founding nearly three decades earlier, and establishes a mechanism for admitting new members and observers
- The permanent BIMSTEC Secretariat has been headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, since 2014
India's continued emphasis on BIMSTEC, reaffirmed at this meeting, reflects a deliberate strategy of channelling regional economic and security cooperation through a forum that structurally excludes Pakistan, in contrast to Bangladesh's push to run both frameworks in parallel.
India's "Neighbourhood First" Policy and Regional Architecture Choices
"Neighbourhood First" is the articulated doctrine guiding India's engagement with its immediate neighbours, prioritising connectivity, trade facilitation, and security cooperation with South Asian states. Since SAARC's paralysis after 2016, India has operationalised this doctrine through BIMSTEC, sub-regional groupings such as BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal), and bilateral initiatives, rather than reviving SAARC-wide engagement.
Key Details
- BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal) grouping was formed in 2015 as a SAARC-minus-Pakistan sub-regional framework, notably for the (yet-unratified) BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement on cross-border transport
- India has hosted and prioritised BIMSTEC leaders' summits and sectoral meetings (security, trade, connectivity, technology) as substitutes for stalled SAARC-wide platforms
- Bangladesh's post-2026 government has signalled interest in re-engaging with SAARC even while continuing BIMSTEC participation, a position articulated as not requiring a binary choice between the two frameworks
Bangladesh's dual-track call tests the coherence of India's Neighbourhood First approach, which has so far treated BIMSTEC as a functional substitute for SAARC rather than a parallel-track complement.
- SAARC founded: 8 December 1985 (Dhaka Charter); 8 members (7 founding + Afghanistan, 2007); Secretariat in Kathmandu since 1987
- Last full SAARC summit held: 2014 (Kathmandu, 18th summit); 2016 Islamabad summit called off after the Uri attack
- BIMSTEC founded: 6 June 1997 (Bangkok Declaration); 7 members (5 South Asian + Myanmar and Thailand from ASEAN)
- BIMSTEC Charter: signed 30 March 2022, entered into force 20 May 2024 (after Nepal's ratification), granting the bloc legal personality
- BIMSTEC Secretariat: Dhaka, Bangladesh, established 2014
- BBIN sub-grouping (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal): formed 2015, excludes Pakistan