Pakistan-China plan new bloc, ex-diplomat asks: 'How will this play with new cozying up to US?'

As Pakistan and China explore the formation of a new regional bloc to replace the defunct South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Husain Haqqani, former Pakistani ambassador to the US, has questioned how this move aligns with Islamabad's renewed outreach to Washington.

"How will this play with the new cozying up to the US? Will it work?" Haqqani asked on Tuesday, reacting to reports that Pakistan, China, and Bangladesh had met in China's Kunming on June 19 to discuss forming a new grouping aimed at regional integration.

Haqqani’s remarks come amid what many see as conflicting signals from Islamabad. On one hand, Pakistan is aligning closely with Beijing on the proposed bloc and recently secured a $3.4 billion loan rollover from China. On the other, the Pakistani military leadership appears to be drawing closer to Washington.

US President Donald Trump recently hosted Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir at the White House for lunch, and a Trump-linked cryptocurrency firm has signed an agreement with the Pakistan Crypto Council to promote blockchain technology and digital assets in the country.

The proposed bloc, as reported by Pakistan's The Express Tribune, aims to revive regional cooperation that has stalled under SAARC. The meeting in Kunming was said to include discussions on expanding this proposed framework to include other Saarc members such as Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Afghanistan.

Pakistan's push comes against the backdrop of SAARC's prolonged inactivity. The organisation has not held a summit since 2014, and its 2016 meeting in Islamabad was cancelled after India pulled out following the Pakistan-sponsored Uri terror attack that killed 17 Indian soldiers. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Bhutan also withdrew, citing terrorism concerns.

India, which had been a major driver of SAARC's initiatives and funding, has long blamed Pakistan for blocking key cooperation measures, including trade agreements and counterterrorism protocols. Notably, Islamabad vetoed the Saarc Motor Vehicles Agreement in 2014, prompting India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal to move forward with a sub-regional BBIN framework instead.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has distanced itself from speculation that it is part of any new trilateral bloc. "We are not forming any alliance," Dhaka’s foreign affairs adviser M Touhid Hossain clarified. "It was a meeting at the official level, not at the political level. There was no element of formation of any alliance."

The Express Tribune report claimed India would be invited to join the new bloc, though it also acknowledged that New Delhi is unlikely to participate due to its diverging interests.