After the downfall of the Sheikh Hasina led Awami League in Bangladesh on 5 August, 2024, Bangladesh’ new BNP government is seeking the revival of SAARC.
SAARC founded in 1985, is stalled since 2016, when India declined to participate in the Islamabad Summit (2016) due to Pakistan sponsored terrorist attack in India’s Uri and Pathankot in 2016. Bangladesh supported India’s stand in 2016. But now her stand is changed as the power has changed hands.
The Transitional government of Bangladesh (August, 2024 to February, 2026) led by Yunus as well as the new BNP government led by Tarique Rahman (Since February 2026) have demanded the revival of SAARC for growth and integration in the region of South Asia.
During the meeting of BIMSTEC Security Chiefs in Delhi on 16 August, 2026 Bangladesh’ representative Brig Gen A K M Shamsul Islam (retd) demanded the revival of SAARC. Later, while participating in the Independence Day function of Maldives on 26 July, 2026, the representative of Bangladesh again demanded the revival of SAARC. The Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu went one step further and offered to mediate the deadlock between India and Pakistan to revive SAARC.
Why there is Sudden Clamor for Revival of SAARC?
The idea of SAARC was given by Ziaur Rahman, the BNP leader of Bangladesh in 1980, ostensibly to promote growth and integration in South Asia as was the trend of regional organizations in other parts of the country. But observers noted that the real reason for this idea was to make a collective hedging against India by India’s smaller neighbours.
India was initially hesitant, but it joined later. The SAARC was active for three decades, but its performance on regional integration and growth has been dismal. South Asia is the least integrated region in the world as the intra-regional trade within the region is just 5 percent of the total trade of regional countries. Compare this with South East Asia, where Intra-regional trade is nearly 40 percent.
Why BIMSTEC also Could not Succeed in Regional Integration?
Initially, scholars blamed the squabbling between India and Pakistan as the most potent reason for the failures of SAARC. This may be true to some extent, but not the main reason to explain the growth and integration of in South Asia. For example, Bangladesh is the member of BIMSTEC and Pakistan is not included in BIMSTEC, hence there is no squabbling in BIMSTEC. But is the performance of BIMSTEC with respect to regional integration. India is pushing hard to make BIMSTEC successful, but regional Integration in South Asia has not moved ahead. BIMSTEC was formed in 2004 and it has also completed two decades. What contribution Bangladesh want to make in SAARC which is has not been able to make in BIMSTEC.
The reality of growth and regional cooperation in South Asia is different and we have to face it. The absence or presence of one or other organization is not the cause of poor score on development and regional cooperation. The real tragedy of South Asia is the strategic interference of external actors like earlier the US and now China in the region. And the equal propensity of the India’s neighbours to use these external powers as balancing force against India. During 1970s, Pakistan used its close ties with the US to balance against India. Since 1990s, Pakistan and other smaller players like Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Maldives have used every opportunity to hedge against India with the help of China. Pakistan, though located in South Asia has never considered as part of this region. Pakistan’s loyalties and engagements lie in the Middle East not in South Asia. The history suggests that her engagements with South Asia have been confined to balancing India with the help of China and promoting state sponsored terrorism.
Old Design, New Demand
Now, the BNP government of China has joined this game. Tarique Rahman is following the policy of his father Ziaur Rahman, who floated the idea of SAARC in 1980. The irony is that Tarique Rahman sought closer economic and strategic ties with China during his visit to China in June 2026, but he is worried about the cooperation and integration in South Asia through revival of SAARC! The motive remains the same- to find some mechanism to hedge against India. Thus, we cannot hope better result even if we revive the SAARC, till such time this hedging game goes on. The will to cooperate and the broad consensus on the core issues of security and growth among regional players in South Asia are the prerequisites for any meaningful regional cooperation and integration in this region.
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