Islamabad/Beijing: Pakistan and China are reportedly exploring the possibility of creating a new regional grouping to replace the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which comprises India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, according to media reports. The proposed bloc appears to be an attempt by Beijing and Islamabad to carve out an alternative space for influence in the global south, where both nations often feel sidelined. However, India has little reason to worry.

In recent years, SAARC has remained largely dysfunctional, primarily due to Pakistan’s consistent efforts to use the forum to raise bilateral issues, particularly Kashmir — something India has firmly opposed. This persistent issue led India to shift focus towards more productive and like-minded partnerships such as BIMSTEC, I2U2, and the Quad, which prioritise connectivity, trade, and regional security while excluding Pakistan.

Talks are underway between Islamabad and Beijing regarding the formation of a new regional grouping. The talks between China and Pakistan are now at an advanced stage as both sides are convinced that a new organisation is essential for regional integration and connectivity, sources said.

A recent trilateral meeting between Pakistan, China and Bangladesh in Kunming, China, was part of those diplomatic manoeuvres, the report stated quoting sources familiar with the matter. The goal was to invite other South Asian countries, which were part of SAARC, to join the new grouping. As per reports, India would be invited to the new proposed forum, while countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Afghanistan are expected to be part of the grouping.

The main purpose of the new organisation is to seek greater regional engagement through enhanced trade and connectivity, the newspaper report stated. While reports claimed that the recent Kunming meet was focused on the formation of the new regional bloc, Bangladesh’s interim government has dismissed the idea of any emerging alliance between Dhaka, Beijing and Islamabad. Bangaldesh’s interim government said that the recent meeting between the representatives of the three coutries was “not political”. “We are not forming any alliance,” foreign affairs adviser M Touhid Hossain had said.

If the proposal is materialised, it would replace the SAARC, which has been suspended for a long time due to the India-Pakistan conflict. Its biennial summits have not taken place since the last one in Kathmandu in 2014.

The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad. However, 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”. Soon, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet, following which the summit was called off.