Asian countries explore alternative to dormant SAARC

Amid prolonged dormancy within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), several Asian countries, including China and Pakistan, are working to create a new bloc that focuses on regional collaboration, trade, and security dialogue.

SAARC, founded in 1985 to promote economic and cultural cooperation among South Asian nations, has remained largely dormant for nearly a decade. The organization’s last full summit was held in 2014, and its activities have since been hamstrung by persistent political tensions—most notably between India and Pakistan.

Diplomatic sources from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have confirmed that informal consultations have been ongoing.

According to Pakistan’s The Express Tribune, a meeting was held earlier this month in Kunming, in China. Bangladesh was also reportedly in attendance.

“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.

“SAARC is not functioning in its current form, and we need mechanisms that are more nimble, apolitical, and results-oriented,” a senior Bangladeshi official told local media, underlining frustration shared by smaller member states who see their regional aspirations stalled by geopolitics.

Countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka have shown growing interest in forums while in Central and East Asia, cross-regional initiatives backed by China have drawn in countries like Afghanistan and the Maldives, offering economic opportunities in exchange for closer strategic alignment with Beijing.

Meanwhile, experts suggest that the failure to revive SAARC not only weakens South Asia’s collective bargaining power on global platforms but also deepens fragmentation in an era demanding transboundary cooperation on climate change, migration, public health, and digital infrastructure.

“SAARC’s irrelevance is no longer just a diplomatic embarrassment; it’s a lost opportunity in a world where regional blocs are increasingly determining the pace of development,” said Dr. Farah Qureshi, a South Asia policy analyst based in New Delhi.

As newer alignments take shape, analysts caution that any successful replacement for SAARC must go beyond simply sidestepping India-Pakistan tensions. It must offer functional cooperation mechanisms, political inclusivity, and the agility to respond to the region’s evolving challenges.

For now, the future of SAARC remains uncertain—but the regional appetite for pragmatic alternatives is clearly growing.