Govt working to revive regional cooperation groups: FM

Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman on Tuesday said Bangladesh has taken a series of diplomatic and policy initiatives to revitalise regional organisations such as South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC) and Developing-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, which have seen limited progress in recent years, reports UNB.

SAARC remains a landmark initiative in South Asia widely associated with the vision of late president Ziaur Rahman, he said responding to a question from NCP lawmaker elected from Kurigram-2 Atiqur Rahman Mujahid in parliament.

He recalled that Ziaur Rahman played a pioneering role in conceptualising regional cooperation by engaging South Asian leaders through diplomatic correspondence and special envoys. This effort eventually led to the formal launch of SAARC at its first summit held in Dhaka in 1985.

The minister said SAARC was founded with the objective of promoting socio-economic development, strengthening mutual cooperation and ensuring regional stability among member states.

However, he acknowledged that the organisation has not been functioning at the desired pace.

"According to the SAARC Charter, summits are supposed to be held regularly, but no summit has taken place since 2014," he said.