Foreign ministers from Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as Afghanistan's commerce minister, emphasized dialogue and collective action on Friday to bridge the South Asian region but also said alternatives to regional collaboration are available and operational.
Top diplomats from Pakistan and Bangladesh, Ishaq Dar and Khalilur Rahman, joined Afghan Commerce Minister Nooruddin Azizi in addressing the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in the Turkish resort city, discussing the challenges to intra-trade in South Asia, which has nearly two billion people.
They emphasize the need for stronger regional cooperation and alternative mechanisms to boost trade.
Dar said South Asia's economic potential is underutilized, with intra-regional trade standing at just 5% despite the region's nearly $4 trillion economy.
Dar, however, said if the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) were “working in true spirit, there would have been a different picture about intra-trade.”
“Without trust, there can be no connectivity, and without connectivity, issues cannot be resolved,” he said, calling for collective and sincere efforts to spur growth.
The Pakistani foreign minister said the fundamental issue is to “eliminate terrorism from the root cause, as this does not allow countries to prosper and make progress.”
As the SAARC remains inactive, Dar said Pakistan is pursuing “trilateral and alternative mechanisms”—with China and Bangladesh and China and Afghanistan—to overcome regional deadlock, citing enhanced connectivity as leading to "shared prosperity, higher GDP growth, and better living standards across South Asia."
When asked about any plans by the SAARC on regional exchanges as well as technical cooperation to engage ahead of potential escalation, Dar alleged that Pakistan’s neighbor India is a “stumbling block” towards such a step.
“All the members have to be on board… it takes two to tango,” he added. “I'm not here for the blame game. But we have started working on trilateral (initiatives) to overcome hurdles, and we cannot wait indefinitely.”
Collective efforts
Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman emphasized collective efforts, flagging pressures on national budgets due to the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Differences between South Asian countries "can be resolved through dialogue and goodwill," he said.
Recalling his early days as a diplomat, Rahman said the whole foreign office was “buzzing with these initiatives on SAARC.”
“We had big dreams in many ways; we came closer, and so did many others. They have not been able to realize the potential,” he regretted.
"Geography plays a role," and "particular needs of a country can play a role," he said, citing non-trade barriers and "internal resistance to open up."
“If you look at South Asia, it's a family, and we can transact much more than what we are doing now… through dialogue and openness, through efforts to come closer, we can bring down barriers slowly, one after the other; we can reset the relationship among countries within the region and create opportunities for people… and increase the ability to improve our productivities and our trade among ourselves is all in the realm of possibility,” said Khalil.
“But here our political will counts very much.”
Separate politics and trade
Afghan Commerce Minister Nooruddin Azizi emphasized the importance of dialogue between conflicting parties in order to resolve issues and increase trade and economic activity.
The "most important steps for increasing trade are promoting political confidence, building and recognizing shared interests, and promoting an economics-based narrative in the region," said Azizi, speaking to the forum through an interpreter.
“These steps can lay the foundations for trade cooperation and create the basis for increasing intra-regional trade and investment among the countries of South Asia,” he said.
In reference to recent hostilities with Pakistan, Azizi said it was "brothers living on two sides of the Durand line" who suffered.
Until the border clashes began in February, he said Afghanistan's trade with Pakistan had reached $6 billion.
He emphasized that trade issues should be handled differently from political issues.
"We hope our trade with Pakistan will be restored again… hope problems will be solved and trade will be started soon," Azizi said.
He stressed peace and humanity and said Afghans “did not cause war in the world.”
“We were just defenders,” he said, referring to the ruling Afghan Taliban’s two-decade-long fight with US-led foreign forces who exited the war-torn nation in August 2021.
“We should solve all problems, all issues, through dialogue,” he said.
