Bangla for three sub-regional groupings in South Asia

New Delhi (PTI): Bangladesh today said ‘SAARC is not going anywhere” and suggested formation of three sub-regional groupings with Indiabeing included in each of them to speed up cooperation in diverse areas.

Bangladesh High Commissioner Tariq Ahmed Karim, emphasising need for a “new paradigm of regional cooperation”, said SAARC countries can be grouped into three -- one comprising India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, another India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and third India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He was speaking at a roundtable discussion on ‘Water Security in South Asia: Building Trust for Cooperation’ organised by Observer Research Foundation in collaboration with Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Germany.

The High Commissioner said, “the region should have a new paradigm of sub-regional cooperation to deal with issues effectively, as SAARC is not going anywhere”, according to a press release issued by ORF.