‘SAARC fails to reach its goal due to Indo-Pak tiff’
Staff Reporter :
Speakers at a roundtable conference on Monday said that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) had failed to reach its goal due to the tiff between India and Pakistan. Regional unity is necessary for solutions, as it can solve common problems in this region, they said.
Free Thinkers’ Forum (FTF), a pro-BNP platform, arranged the roundtable on
“SAARC: Expectations and Achievement” at the National Press Club in the city. BNP standing committee member and former Army Chief Lt Gen (Retd) Mahbubur Rahman addressed the programme as the Chief Guest with former Secretary Barrister Haider Ali in the chair. The FTF Chairman Jahangir Chowdhury moderated the programme, while Editor of Daily Naya Diganta Alamgir Mohiuddin, BNP central leaders Col (Retd) Abdul Latif and Abu Naser Mohammad Rahmatullah also addressed it, among others.
Mahbubur Rahman said that the SAARC in its last 29 years failed to meet its objectives totally. India-Pakistan conflict is mainly responsible for the failure. Kashmir issue is the main factor for the tiff has to be resolved to strengthen the SAARC, he said.
Saying that China is now playing a vital role in the economic development of the Asian countries, he suggested inclusion of China in the SAARC to make it a strong regional platform.
He expressed concern over the issue of security, climate change and water, and said that India is withdrawing water from common rivers unilaterally ignoring Bangladesh. If the SAARC is strengthened, the water issue could be discussed on the platform. But India is not cordial to strengthen the regional forum, he said.
Speakers at a roundtable conference on Monday said that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) had failed to reach its goal due to the tiff between India and Pakistan. Regional unity is necessary for solutions, as it can solve common problems in this region, they said.
Free Thinkers’ Forum (FTF), a pro-BNP platform, arranged the roundtable on
“SAARC: Expectations and Achievement” at the National Press Club in the city. BNP standing committee member and former Army Chief Lt Gen (Retd) Mahbubur Rahman addressed the programme as the Chief Guest with former Secretary Barrister Haider Ali in the chair. The FTF Chairman Jahangir Chowdhury moderated the programme, while Editor of Daily Naya Diganta Alamgir Mohiuddin, BNP central leaders Col (Retd) Abdul Latif and Abu Naser Mohammad Rahmatullah also addressed it, among others.
Mahbubur Rahman said that the SAARC in its last 29 years failed to meet its objectives totally. India-Pakistan conflict is mainly responsible for the failure. Kashmir issue is the main factor for the tiff has to be resolved to strengthen the SAARC, he said.
Saying that China is now playing a vital role in the economic development of the Asian countries, he suggested inclusion of China in the SAARC to make it a strong regional platform.
He expressed concern over the issue of security, climate change and water, and said that India is withdrawing water from common rivers unilaterally ignoring Bangladesh. If the SAARC is strengthened, the water issue could be discussed on the platform. But India is not cordial to strengthen the regional forum, he said.
