Staff Reporter:
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam yesterday reaffirmed Bangladesh’s unwavering support for revitalizing the SAARC process, underscoring Dhaka’s commitment to regional peace, sta-bility and prosperity in South Asia.
She made the remarks when Md. Golam Sarwar, Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), paid a courtesy call on her at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yester-day, ministry’s press release said.
During the meeting, they discussed various matters relating to SAARC and ways to reinvigorate regional cooperation.
Recalling the origin of the regional body, the State Minister said the idea of regional cooperation in South Asia was first proposed by Bangladesh in the early 1980s by late President Ziaur Rahman to pro-mote the welfare of the people, improve quality of life and strengthen collective self-reliance.
As one of the founding members and host of the first SAARC Summit in December 1985, Bangladesh recognizes the valuable contributions of the member states in maintaining the relevance of SAARC amid evolving regional and global dynamics, she said.
Shama Obaed noted that SAARC continues to foster shared regional values and promote cooperation in key areas, including trade, investment, connectivity, poverty alleviation, energy, climate change, food security, education, public health and culture and people-to-people contacts.
Emphasizing the need to strengthen SAARC’s institutional mechanisms and revitalize its processes, she reiterated Bangladesh’s abiding commitment to the principles enshrined in the SAARC Charter, includ-ing sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political independence, non-interference in internal affairs and mutual benefit for the peoples of member states.
