Maldives joins Bangladesh in calling for SAARC revival, Muizzu offers to mediate India-Pak differences
During Maldives' Independence Day address in Malé, President Mohamed Muizzu called on SAARC member states to return to dialogue and offered Maldives as a mediator on outstanding regional differences
The statement follows similar calls made earlier by Bangladesh for reviving the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which has remained without a summit for a decade
Maldives is a member of SAARC but not of BIMSTEC, the regional grouping that India has prioritised in recent years
SAARC last held a summit in Kathmandu in 2014; the subsequent summit scheduled in Pakistan in 2016 did not proceed after several member states declined to attend following the Uri attack
SAARC — Structure and the Consensus Principle
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental grouping established through the SAARC Charter, signed in Dhaka on December 8, 1985. Its founding members were Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka; Afghanistan joined as the eighth member in 2007. Its secretariat is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Key Details
- Established: December 8, 1985 (SAARC Charter, Dhaka); 8 members with Afghanistan's 2007 addition
- Headquarters: Kathmandu, Nepal
- Article X of the SAARC Charter mandates that decisions be taken on the basis of unanimity, and that bilateral and contentious issues be excluded from its deliberations — a structural feature that has historically limited its ability to function amid bilateral disputes between members
- Last leaders' summit: Kathmandu, 2014 (18th summit); the 19th summit, scheduled in Islamabad for 2016, has not been held after several members withdrew following the Uri attack that year
The renewed calls for revival directly concern reactivating a body that has been dormant at the summit level since 2014, with its core institutional design (unanimity rule, exclusion of bilateral disputes) both enabling engagement on shared regional issues and constraining it whenever bilateral tensions between key members persist.
BIMSTEC — India's Alternative Regional Framework
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was established on June 6, 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration, initially as BIST-EC among Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Myanmar joined the same year, and Bhutan and Nepal joined in February 2004, bringing membership to seven.
Key Details
- Established: June 6, 1997 (Bangkok Declaration); headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Seven members: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand — five from South Asia and two from Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Thailand)
- Notably excludes Pakistan, distinguishing its membership from SAARC's
- Functions on a sectoral cooperation model (connectivity, security, trade, energy, among others) rather than SAARC's broader political-economic mandate
The article's framing of Maldives as being outside "the regional organisation India is promoting" highlights the structural contrast between SAARC (which includes Pakistan and is unanimity-bound) and BIMSTEC (which excludes Pakistan and links South Asia to Southeast Asia around the Bay of Bengal) — a distinction UPSC frequently tests through membership-comparison questions.
- SAARC established: December 8, 1985; 8 members (Afghanistan joined 2007); headquarters Kathmandu
- BIMSTEC established: June 6, 1997; 7 members; headquarters Dhaka
- SAARC last summit: Kathmandu, 2014; subsequent 2016 Islamabad summit not held
- BIMSTEC members excluding Pakistan: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand
- SAARC Charter Article X: decisions by unanimity; bilateral/contentious issues excluded from deliberations