India on Wednesday underlined its commitment to SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), which has been lying dormant for eight years now, describing it as an important regional grouping for cooperation in South Asia.
Visiting SAARC Secretary General Md Golam Sarwar today held meetings with Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra and Secretary (East) in MEA Jaideep Majumdar.
”The two sides had detailed discussions on various issues of regional cooperation within SAARC. During the discussions, India reiterated its commitment towards regional cooperation for growth and prosperity of the people of South Asia through SAARC. It was also underlined that India considers SAARC as an important regional association for cooperation in South Asia and has been taking several efforts and initiatives to bring the peoples of South Asia closer to each other,” the MEA said in a press release.
The visit of the SAARC Secretary General is being seen as a step towards reviving the eight-member grouping, comprising India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan and the Maldives.
The regional body has failed to make much headway due to the differences between India and Pakistan. Pakistan was scheduled to hold its last summit in November 2016 but that meet could not take place because India, followed by Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, declined to attend. India had refused to attend the summit because of the Uri attack by Pakistan based terror outfits in September 2018.
Since then, there has been no forward movement with regard to the grouping. India has, meanwhile, been promoting sub regional cooperation with countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar and Sri Lanka so as to keep Pakistan out of any economic arrangements in the region.