Pakistan signals openness to regional bloc with Bangladesh

Pakistan has indicated its openness to forming a regional bloc with Bangladesh without including India. The statement from Islamabad follows comments by Bangladesh’s top foreign affairs adviser, Md Touhid Hossain, that such an arrangement is strategically possible without India.

Hossain told the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha that “it is strategically possible for Bangladesh to join a regional grouping with Pakistan excluding India.”

Responding to Hossain’s remarks, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Tahir Hussain Andrabi said Islamabad “believes in multilateralism” and that any proposal from Bangladesh would be considered in the same spirit.

Hossain added that while such a grouping is strategically feasible for Bangladesh, it would not be possible for Nepal or Bhutan to form a similar arrangement with Pakistan excluding India.

Last week, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said a new trilateral initiative involving Bangladesh, China and Pakistan has begun and could expand to include other countries within and beyond the region.

Dar noted that “earlier this year, Bangladesh, China and Pakistan established a trilateral mechanism to foster cooperation in areas of common interest. There could be groups with variable geometry on issues ranging from economy to technology to connectivity.”

The first trilateral meeting was hosted by China in June in Kunming, with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong representing Beijing. Bangladesh was represented by acting Foreign Secretary Ruhul Alam Siddique, while Pakistan was represented by Additional Secretary Imran Ahmed Siddiqui.

According to a joint statement, the three sides agreed to advance cooperation across multiple sectors and committed to the principles of “good-neighbourliness, equality and mutual trust, openness and inclusiveness, common development and win-win cooperation.” The framework is rooted in “true multilateralism and open regionalism” and is “not directed at any third party.”

China and Pakistan are described as “all-weather strategic cooperative partners,” and Beijing’s ties with Bangladesh have strengthened in recent years. Last year, bilateral trade between China and both Pakistan and Bangladesh was around $23 billion.

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