The interim government’s chief adviser, Dr Muhammad Yunus, has stressed a revival of the "spirit of SAARC" to address regional challenges.
In an interview with Indian news agency PTI, the chief adviser noted that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, was formed with a great cause but has now exists on paper only, without any functioning.
The Economic Times, an Indian media outlet, reproduced a part of the interview on Friday. Citing PTI, it reported that Dr Yunus would try to meet Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly session later this month.
He also hopes to gather the heads of SAARC nations for a symbolic photo opportunity, as part of his efforts to rejuvenate the regional bloc’s original mission.
Narendra Modi is expected to speak at the UN General Assembly on 26 September, during the high-level general debate of the 79th session from 24-30 September.
The last SAARC summit was in Kathmandu in 2014. The 2016 SAARC Summit was scheduled to take place in Islamabad. But after the terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on 18 September that year, India refused to participate in the summit due to "prevailing circumstances".
Later, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet.
The regional group has been largely inactive since then, though Nepal has been making efforts to reactivate it.
Dr. Yunus also contrasted SAARC with the European Union, which has seen substantial success through cooperation among its member states, and stressed that SAARC needs to become similarly functional.
He noted that alternative solutions should be explored if there are issues with Pakistan, but SAARC's operations should not be halted.