In the recently concluded SAARC Summit in New Delhi, Afghanistan has joined as a full member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation raising the total membership of this body to eight. Besides , in this summit USA, China, Japan, South Korea and the European Union have joined as observers and Iran is expected to join as an observer in the next SAARC summit.
Ambassador Ahmed Tariq Karim recalled the days when he was the ambassador for Bangladesh in the USA saying that he had then requested many of these countries to join SAARC as an observer. He said that no country and no region as well can remain isolated.
He said that although European Union showed its interests for SAARC long before, China’s joining the organization’s summit as an observer was quite significant. He also said that this can have two fold implications, one in commerce and the other in regional politics. He also mentioned connectivity amongst the SAARC country which could play vital role in the region.
