Pakistan PM, Bangladesh’s Yunus discuss revival of Saarc

Dhaka Bangladesh interim government head Muhammad Yunus and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday discussed the revival of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) and the revitalisation of bilateral relations.

Sharif called Yunus on telephone to congratulate him on becoming the leader of the caretaker administration. Ties between the Bangladesh and Pakistan were frosty during the tenure of former premier Sheikh Hasina, who stepped down and fled to India on August 5.

Sharif “stressed the need to reinvigorate the Saarc process”, according to a readout of the conversation from the Bangladeshi side. Yunus said he is “committed to revitalising Saarc as a top regional forum to boost ties among the South Asian nations”.

Yunus also highlighted the “necessity of holding regular Saarc summits” and stressed the need to hold “even a brief meeting among the heads of state and governments of the Saarc states at the earliest convenience”.

On Tuesday, Yunus had called for reviving Saarc to boost economic cooperation in the neighbourhood during a meeting with Pakistan high commissioner Syed Ahmed Maroof.

Saarc has been largely moribund since India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan pulled out of a summit that was to be hosted by Pakistan in November 2016. Since then, India has stepped up cooperation through other regional mechanisms such as Bimstec.

The readout said Yunus called for strengthening economic ties and people-to-people connections between Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Sharif emphasised the need to revitalise bilateral ties and said there is “immense potential [for] expanding bilateral trade and economic cooperation”. He also underscored the need to resume mechanisms like the foreign secretary-level consultations and the joint economic commission between Dhaka and Islamabad.

Sharif also hoped the goodwill between Bangladesh and Pakistan would be translated into substantial cooperation. He expressed his willingness to provide support to people affected by floods in southern and southeastern Bangladesh.

Yunus took over as head of the interim government head on August 8, following student-led protests that resulted in the death of more than 600 people.

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