SAARC, NAM should be proactive for regional coop and dev

Staff Reporter :
Pakistan’s two renowned think tanks have said that the regional forums like South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) should be proactive in dealing with various emerging situations, including climate change.
Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhury, former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan said that South Asian countries have not been successful in utilising the SAARC platform for mutual cooperation and benefits.
“Now it is time to rewrite the agenda of regional collaboration wherein Climate Change should be given top priority as it has real and serious implications for all the countries of the region,” he added.
Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhury made the remarks while speaking at a reception hosted in his honour and in honour of Ambassador Asif Durrani, former Ambassador of Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran and the UAE at the residence of Pakistan High Commissioner in Dhaka on Tuesday evening.
Planning Minister M A Mannan attended the event as the Special Guest along with other invitees. High Commissioner Imran Ahmed Siddiqui gave the concluding remarks. Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhury and Ambassador Asif Durrani participated in the three-day Bay of Bengal Conversation-2022, organised by the Centre for Governance Studies at Hotel Sonargaon that ended on Tuesday.
In his remark, Ambassador Asif Durrani touched upon regional approaches and reactivation of the regional forums like SAARC and NAM.
He said that SAARC was the least integrated region in the world whereas regional blocks in other parts of the world are flourishing.
Ambassador Durrani urged that enhanced collaboration among developing countries would contribute towards the efforts to achieve lasting prosperity and regional peace.
Speaking on Bangladesh-Pakistan relations in the changing world order, Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhury said that people of the two countries share common bonds of history and culture and mutual feelings of goodwill among the people.
 He urged for capitalising on these bonds of affinity for the benefit of two countries and said that more exchange of scholars and leaders would help improve bilateral relations. On regional connectivity, he emphasised the need for greater collaboration among developing states to effectively address challenges such as climate change impact, environmental degradation and endemic poverty.
The South Asian region will collectively develop if collaborative efforts are undertaken by the countries of the region, Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry emphasised.
The diplomats appreciated the progress and development of Bangladesh and expressed good wishes for the prosperity of its people.
During the interactive session, most speakers stressed the need for enhanced regional cooperation to tackle common challenges and opportunities for developing countries.
In his concluding remarks, the High Commissioner thanked the participants for attending the event and expressed hope that the interaction between think tanks and thought leadership of the two countries will continue in future aimed at exploring avenues of policy convergence and cooperation to the mutual benefit of the two countries.