Latest news with #BIMSTEC
Hans India
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Pak, China to form new bloc to replace SAARC?
Islamabad/Beijing: Pakistan and China are reportedly exploring the possibility of creating a new regional grouping to replace the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which comprises India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, according to media reports. The proposed bloc appears to be an attempt by Beijing and Islamabad to carve out an alternative space for influence in the global south, where both nations often feel sidelined. However, India has little reason to worry. In recent years, SAARC has remained largely dysfunctional, primarily due to Pakistan's consistent efforts to use the forum to raise bilateral issues, particularly Kashmir — something India has firmly opposed. This persistent issue led India to shift focus towards more productive and like-minded partnerships such as BIMSTEC, I2U2, and the Quad, which prioritise connectivity, trade, and regional security while excluding Pakistan. Talks are underway between Islamabad and Beijing regarding the formation of a new regional grouping. The talks between China and Pakistan are now at an advanced stage as both sides are convinced that a new organisation is essential for regional integration and connectivity, sources said. A recent trilateral meeting between Pakistan, China and Bangladesh in Kunming, China, was part of those diplomatic manoeuvres, the report stated quoting sources familiar with the matter. The goal was to invite other South Asian countries, which were part of SAARC, to join the new grouping. As per reports, India would be invited to the new proposed forum, while countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Afghanistan are expected to be part of the grouping. The main purpose of the new organisation is to seek greater regional engagement through enhanced trade and connectivity, the newspaper report stated. While reports claimed that the recent Kunming meet was focused on the formation of the new regional bloc, Bangladesh's interim government has dismissed the idea of any emerging alliance between Dhaka, Beijing and Islamabad. Bangaldesh's interim government said that the recent meeting between the representatives of the three coutries was 'not political'. 'We are not forming any alliance,' foreign affairs adviser M Touhid Hossain had said. If the proposal is materialised, it would replace the SAARC, which has been suspended for a long time due to the India-Pakistan conflict. Its biennial summits have not taken place since the last one in Kathmandu in 2014. The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad. However, after the terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to 'prevailing circumstances'. Soon, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet, following which the summit was called off.
Economist
20 hours ago
- Business
- Economist
Thailand and BIMSTEC advance global trade connectivity
A central achievement of the summit was the Sixth BIMSTEC Summit Declaration, which expresses aims such as reaching a BIMSTEC Free Trade Area Agreement, encouraging member countries to explore a cross-border payment system and the settlement of trade in local currencies, and investing in port infrastructure and logistics. Transport by sea and land is part of the connectivity portfolio taken on by Thailand, chair of BIMSTEC from 2022 to 2025. Under BIMSTEC's distinctive functional leadership model, member countries are responsible for particular sectors. So, for example, India is taking the lead on security, and Bhutan on environment and climate change. 'One of the areas we discussed a lot at the summit was maritime and multimodal transport,' says Mr Sangiampongsa. The event saw the signing of the BIMSTEC Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation, a framework to reduce logistical bottlenecks and deepen economic integration. In Thailand, a key initiative is to upgrade Terminal F at Laem Chabang Port. This is part of the Eastern Economic Corridor, a special economic zone in three coastal provinces east of Bangkok, which acts as a gateway to the fast-developing markets of South Asia and beyond. Complementing upgraded ports, the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway—currently around 70% complete—will open the way for further road links from BIMSTEC members to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam via Thailand. 'Thailand is a member of ASEAN, ASEAN Plus China, Japan and Korea, and BIMSTEC,' Mr Sangiampongsa highlights. 'We are sitting in a strategic location where we can link 4bn people together.'
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First Post
2 days ago
- Business
- First Post
Saarc defunct, China working with Pakistan to establish new regional bloc to corner India
Both sides are reportedly convinced that a new platform is needed to promote regional integration, connectivity, and trade, amid the continued paralysis of Saarc read more China and Pakistan are in advanced talks to create a new regional grouping aimed at replacing the long-defunct South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), in what diplomats and analysts see as a strategic effort to reshape South Asia's geopolitical landscape and reduce India's centrality in the region. According to a report in Pakistan's Express Tribune, discussions between Beijing and Islamabad have moved forward significantly in recent months. Both sides are reportedly convinced that a new platform is needed to promote regional integration, connectivity, and trade, amid the continued paralysis of Saarc due to the India-Pakistan conflict. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What is the proposal? Express Tribune cited sources as saying that the idea is to form an alternative regional organisation by bringing together former Saarc members such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan, but under new leadership, with China playing a key role and India relegated to the periphery. A recent trilateral meeting in Kunming between China, Pakistan and Bangladesh was described as part of the diplomatic groundwork for this initiative. While Bangladesh publicly denied that any alliance was in the making, calling the meeting 'not political', the move has raised eyebrows in New Delhi and other Saarc capitals. 'We are not forming any alliance,' Bangladesh's foreign affairs adviser M Touhid Hossain said following the meeting, though diplomatic sources cited by the newspaper suggested otherwise. The proposed bloc, while still in the planning stages, would focus on improving regional trade corridors, infrastructure connectivity, and economic cooperation — themes that align with China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), in which Pakistan is a key participant through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Why now? Saarc, founded in 1985, has been effectively dormant since 2014, when the last summit was held in Kathmandu. The 2016 summit, scheduled to be held in Islamabad, was cancelled after India pulled out in response to the terror attack on an army camp in Uri, which it blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Several other members — Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan — also withdrew support, citing the 'prevailing circumstances,' making it impossible for the summit to proceed. Since then, Saarc's relevance has sharply declined. India has increasingly turned to other platforms like BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), which excludes Pakistan, to engage with its eastern neighbours. Meanwhile, Pakistan and China have deepened bilateral and multilateral cooperation to counterbalance India's growing clout in Indo-Pacific groupings like the Quad. Will India be invited? According to Express Tribune, India may be formally invited to join the new grouping. However, analysts view this as a diplomatic gesture unlikely to translate into meaningful participation, given the forum's likely alignment with China and Pakistan's strategic priorities. Countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan are expected to be more amenable to the new bloc, particularly if it offers economic incentives or infrastructure support. While the initiative has yet to be officially announced, Indian officials are likely to view it as a bid to create a China-led counterweight to India's influence in the region– a reversal of Saarc's original vision, where India played a dominant role. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The move adds a new layer of complexity to South Asian geopolitics, coming at a time when India is expanding its strategic partnerships in the Indo-Pacific and pushing back against China's assertiveness on its borders and beyond. With inputs from agencies
NDTV
5 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Temple Demolished In Dhaka, India Urges Bangladesh To Protect Hindus
The demolition of a Durga Temple in Dhaka had led to a sharp response from India over the treatment of minorities in Bangladesh. Authorities in Bangladesh have justified the move, calling it a 'makeshift structure', built illegally. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "We understand that extremists were clamouring for the demolition of the Durga temple in Khilkhet, Dhaka. The interim government, instead of providing security to the temple, projected the episode as a case of illegal land use and allowed the destruction of the temple today." "This has resulted in damage to the deity before it was relocated. We are dismayed that such incidents continue to recur in Bangladesh. Let me underline that it is the responsibility of the interim government of Bangladesh to protect Hindus, their properties, and their religious institutions," Mr Jaiswal said. India has repeatedly voiced concern about the targeting of minorities in Bangladesh under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue with Mr Yunus during the meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok. Prime Minister Modi had also underlined India's concerns related to the safety and security of minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus, and expressed his expectation that the Government of Bangladesh would ensure their security, including by thoroughly investigating the cases of atrocities committed against them, during the meeting with Muhammad Yunus. The temple, which seems to be a makeshift structure, was demolished within days of demands from extremists to tear it down. The demolition occurred within three days of a mob demanding the temple's removal. The demolition was carried out by authorities from Bangladesh Railway, assisted by police and military personnel, and visuals from the demolition site showed bulldozers bringing the structure down with the Durga idol still inside the structure. The officials are seen ignoring appeals from devotees to spare the temple. The Bangladesh Railway authorities say the Khilkhet Sarbojanin Shri Shri Durga Mandir was demolished as it had been built illegally on railway land.
The Print
20-06-2025
- Business
- The Print
New Delhi-Dhaka must reimagine ties as ‘strategic necessity for collective growth'—Bangladesh envoy
Riaz in his speech touched upon the soft dimensions of India-Bangladesh ties—language, culture and education. With thousands of Bangladeshi students studying in India, and an organic exchange of ideas and people across the two countries' 4,096-kilometre shared land border, he said the bilateral relationship was not merely geopolitical but personal. The remarks come at a time when ties between New Delhi and Dhaka have been tense for months. New Delhi: Bangladesh and India must reimagine bilateral and regional cooperation, not as a legacy of the past, but as a strategic necessity for collective growth and resilience, said M. Riaz Hamidullah, Bangladesh's High Commissioner to India, during a wide-ranging speech at the neighbouring country's belated national day celebration in New Delhi Thursday evening. 'Our collaboration cannot be judged solely by the memoranda signed or the meetings held,' he noted. 'We aspire for a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood that upholds universal values while also protecting national interests.' 'Bound by shared geography, shared ecology, and a shared linguistic and cultural heritage, our two peoples embrace each other with respect and dignity,' Riaz added. 'Not just because we share the largest land boundary; our people engage organically, not merely as a matter of choice.' He further asserted that 'Bangladesh's ties with India are historic, deep and multilayered. Bangladesh is open and engaged with India to address diverse issues of the present and future'. Riaz noted that bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh grew in double digits in the fiscal gone by and said Dhaka sees the India-Bangladesh partnership as an engine for broader regional development, referencing the sub-regional energy agreement through which Nepal has begun transmitting 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh via the Indian grid. 'These mutually gainful tasks are already in place,' Riaz said. 'It is this understanding that asks our two nations to reimagine bilateral and regional cooperation, not as a legacy of the past, but as a strategic necessity for our collective growth and resilience.' Highlighting Bangladesh's priorities under its chairmanship of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), Riaz said Dhaka looks forward to 'reinvigorating the regional cooperation agenda'. The envoy underlined the country's commitment to democratic values, calling democracy one of the founding ideals that inspired Bangladesh's liberation. He spoke of the current political transition under way in Dhaka, where an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is expected to hold free and fair elections early next year. He further emphasised that the future of Bangladesh lies in transformation: empowering the young to define their destiny and build a democracy that is not only electorally functional but socially inclusive. Riaz ended on a personal note, recounting his meeting last month with Raghu Rai—the Indian photojournalist who documented the Bangladesh Liberation War and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1972 for his powerful imagery. 'His work captured our agony, our struggle, and reminded me that the humanism of 1971 still binds us,' he said. 'Today, some of the war veterans from 1971 are with us in this hall. Their sacrifices must never be forgotten.' 'The friendship between Bangladesh and India must continue to fly forward, rooted in history, yet reaching ambitiously into the future,' Riaz concluded. (Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui) Also Read: After Operation Sindoor, why India must keep an eye on Bangladesh too
