Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of Bangladesh interim government, during an interview to PTI.
| Photo Credit: PTI

There should be a revival of the “spirit of SAARC,” Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government has said, underlining that the eight-member bloc can solve many of the region’s problems.

In an interview with PTI at his official residence in Dhaka, Chief Adviser Yunus said that although the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was formed with a great cause, it now exists only on paper and is not functioning.

The regional grouping comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Mr. Yunus mentioned that he would try to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session scheduled to be held later this month.

He also mentioned that he will try to get the heads of state of SAARC nations together for a photo op.

“Obviously, we will try to meet [Prime Minister Narendra Modi]. I will try if all the heads of state of SAARC nations come together and take a photo. SAARC was formed for a great cause; it now exists only on paper and is not functioning. We have forgotten the name of SAARC; I am trying to revive the spirit of SAARC,” he said.

Prime Minister Modi is likely to address the high-level UN General Assembly session on September 26, according to a provisional list of speakers issued by the UN.

The high-level General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly will take place from September 24-30.

“The SAARC summit has not taken place for quite a long time. If we come together, a lot of problems will be resolved,” Mr. Yunus said.

Nepal has been making efforts to activate the regional grouping, which has not been very effective since 2016.

The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad. But after the terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to “prevailing circumstances”.

The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet.

The Nobel laureate noted that although the European Union, which was formed along similar lines as SAARC, has achieved a lot through mutual cooperation, SAARC has yet to achieve the same.

“The European countries have achieved a lot through the European Union. We have to ensure that SAARC works. Look at the European Union, and how brilliantly it works. If there is a problem regarding Pakistan, other ways can be worked out. But the functioning of SAARC must not stop,” he said.

The SAARC has not been very effective since 2016, as its biennial summits have not taken place since the last one in Kathmandu in 2014.

Speaking on the issue of the Rohingya influx in Bangladesh, Yunus said he would seek help from India to convince Myanmar to take back its population.

Mr. Yunus also said Dhaka needs the help of both India and China to manage the crisis.

“We need the help of India and China to resolve the issue. Nearly one million people have come to Bangladesh, and now this population is growing. It is putting tremendous pressure on Bangladesh’s economy. Some countries are taking them but in small numbers. As India shares good relations with Myanmar, we need India’s help in convincing Myanmar to take them back,” he said.

Over one million Rohingya fled to Bangladesh in 2017 after a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, described by the UN and others as ethnic cleansing, and now live in overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar—among the world’s largest and most densely populated—with little hope of returning to Myanmar, where they are largely denied citizenship and basic rights.

New Delhi:

Amid the ongoing unrest in Bangladesh, reports have emerged of false narratives being created through social media to fuel anti-India sentiments among the people.

Various X accounts have been found spreading disinformation about India in Bangladesh, aimed at instigating Bangladeshis against Indians.

Suvrokamal Dutta, an International Conservative Political Expert based in India, described this as malicious propaganda orchestrated by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), supported by its army and media, to fuel anti-India hatred in Bangladesh and turn the country into another Pakistan.

He said, “The whole world knows about the nasty games played by Pakistan’s ISI and its army in toppling a legitimate, secular, and democratic government of Sheikh Hasina with active support from the BNP and the Jamaat in Bangladesh. So, this is nothing but another nasty ploy by Pakistan to defame India and raise anti-India sentiments in Bangladesh.”

D-Intent Data, a fact-checking group, also exposed this fake narrative and posted on X, “FACT: a video of an airport where uniformed men can be seen is being shared with a misleading claim that those are the Indian army at the Bangladesh airport. The fact is those are Bangladesh’s Airport Armed Police Battalion (AAP).”

It said that the protagonists intend to spread fake news targeting the Indian Army to set a narrative about the ongoing unrest in Bangladesh.

Priyajit Debsarkar, an independent geopolitical analyst based in London, said, “The present situation in Bangladesh is highly alarming. And it is not only a threat to neighbouring India but also to the larger Southeast Asia and beyond.”

He added, “Use of misinformation and disinformation has been effectively deployed internationally to tarnish the image of Indian security agencies as a revenge manoeuvre to get some comfort from what happened fifty-three years ago, on 16 December 1971.”

Speaking to ANI, Debsarkar said, “The Pakistani deep state might be jubilant in the short term but the pluralistic principles and other like-minded people of Bangladesh, including the civil society, will definitely overcome this challenge and not let the country slide on a slippery slope towards fundamentalists and those who believe against the core principles of Bengali culture and identity.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

It was discussed during an official-level meeting of the Joint Working Group on Trade (JWG) between India and Bangladesh, which was held last week in Dhaka. File.
| Photo Credit: AFP

India and Bangladesh have discussed preparations to start talks for a free trade agreement between the two countries to promote economic ties, an official statement said on October 1.

It was discussed during an official-level meeting of the Joint Working Group on Trade (JWG) between India and Bangladesh, which was held last week in Dhaka.

The meeting “discussed a host of bilateral issues such as removal of port restrictions, ground work on commencement of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), harmonization of standards, and mutual recognition of standards, supply of essential commodities to Bangladesh,” the Commerce Ministry said.

CEPA is a kind of free trade agreement, under which two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. Besides, they also ease norms to promote trade in services and investments.

They also deliberated upon issues related to development of road and rail infrastructure, regional connectivity through multi-modal transportation and creation/ strengthening of infrastructure in Land Customs Stations/ Integrated Check Posts, border haats.

These meetings are held on an annual basis to discuss key trade related issues and explore opportunities for economic and technical collaboration, promotion, facilitation, expansion and diversification of trade between the two countries.

“These meetings play a vital role in quick resolution of bilateral issues by removing trade barriers, simplifying customs procedures, improvement of infrastructure, logistics, and transit facilities to facilitate smoother cross-border trade,” it said.

The bilateral trade has dipped to $14.2 billion in 2022-23, from $8.13 billion in 2021-22.