Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar has said that the failure of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is pushing Pakistan toward exploring trilateral cooperation frameworks involving Afghanistan, China, and Bangladesh.

Speaking at the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) Conference in Lahore on Friday, Dar said SAARC has “unfortunately not been able to kick off,” limiting regional economic integration and cooperation.

He said Pakistan is now looking at alternative regional arrangements to strengthen economic connectivity and trade, including trilateral formats such as China–Pakistan–Afghanistan and China–Pakistan–Bangladesh.

Dar stressed that South Asia cannot remain in “isolation,” noting that the region, home to nearly two billion people, is missing significant economic opportunities due to weak cooperation among neighbouring countries.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established in 1985 to promote economic and regional integration among South Asian countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

The organisation was designed to encourage cooperation in areas such as trade, development, education, and cultural exchange. However, in recent years, SAARC’s effectiveness has been significantly limited due to political tensions between member states, particularly between India and Pakistan, leading to stalled summits and reduced regional engagement.

As a result, regional economic cooperation in South Asia has largely remained underdeveloped compared to other regional blocs around the world.

Hundreds of former U.S. officials are calling on Washington to cancel a reported plan to relocate Afghan refugees from Qatar to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In an open letter addressed to the U.S. State Department, more than 600 former civilian and military officials, along with around 100 organizations, urged the administration to stop the proposed transfer. The letter was sent to Marco Rubio.

The signatories argue that the Afghan nationals in question were brought to Qatar by the United States to complete legal immigration procedures after undergoing extensive security vetting. The letter states that while the individuals were cleared for resettlement in the United States, they are now being considered for relocation to Congo, a country for which they were never screened.

“Those individuals were vetted and approved for the United States, not for the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” the letter reads.

According to the report, more than 1,100 Afghan allies and their family members are currently being held at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar under U.S. supervision. Around 800 of them have already completed all security checks and received authorization to travel to the United States. More than half are women and children, and many have remained in transit limbo for over 15 months.

The situation has drawn criticism from former officials and policy observers, who describe the proposed relocation as a betrayal of Afghan allies who supported U.S. missions and risked their lives during the war in Afghanistan. Critics also warn that the move could damage U.S. credibility with future partners.

Several members of the U.S. Congress had previously expressed opposition to the proposal, cautioning that it could significantly undermine trust in the United States among its allies.