Pakistan and China are working to create a new regional bloc to replace Saarc, in which India was a prominent member. The talks on the regional bloc between Islamabad and Beijing are at an advanced level, according to a report in The Express Tribune.
Bangladesh too was part of the recent meeting to create the new regional bloc that was held in China’s Kunming on June 19, according to the report.
“The ultimate goal of the meeting in Kunming on June 19 was to invite other South Asian countries, which were part of Saarc, to join the new grouping,” The Express Tribune reported.
The meeting in Kunming followed a similar China-Pakistan-Afghanistan trilateral held in May, which focused on expanding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and enhancing regional collaboration in the Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) was formed on 8 December, 1985, through the adoption of its Charter in Dhaka, Bangladesh. There were seven founding members, while Afghanistan joined the grouping in 2007.
