Dhaka: Acting Speaker Barrister Kaysar Kamal and Nepal’s Ambassador to Bangladesh Ghanshyam Bhandari on Wednesday expressed optimism that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) could be revitalised to advance the shared development goals of the region. The two leaders expressed the hope during the Nepal Ambassador’s courtesy meeting at the Acting Speaker’s office at the Jatiya Sangsad.

According to United News of Bangladesh, Kaysar Kamal highlighted that SAARC, founded on the vision of the late President Ziaur Rahman, retains the potential to play a meaningful role in regional cooperation and development if member states collaborate to make the organisation functional again, as mentioned in a press release. He urged Nepal to actively participate in efforts to rejuvenate the regional bloc, a proposal that received support from the Nepali envoy.

The Acting Speaker welcomed the formation of the Bangladesh-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group in Nepal’s Federal Parliament and extended gratitude to Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal for the initiative. He expressed optimism that the Bangladesh National Parliament would soon establish a similar group to facilitate exchanges on issues of mutual interest.

Kaysar Kamal further stated that an effective parliamentary friendship group could strengthen parliamentary diplomacy, enhance bilateral relations, and promote exchanges of parliamentary delegations. This initiative aims to share experiences in legislation and good governance while expanding cooperation on common interests in international forums.

Referring to Bangladesh’s electricity imports from Nepal, Kamal noted that both countries have significant opportunities to expand cooperation in areas such as education, culture, youth exchanges, people-to-people contacts, water resources, energy, regional connectivity, trade, and climate change.

Ambassador Bhandari praised Bangladesh’s new journey under the leadership of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and reaffirmed Nepal’s commitment to working closely with the country’s democratic government. He also commended Bangladesh’s progress on various development indicators following its graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category and expressed confidence that the country would successfully complete its UN LDC graduation process within the stipulated timeframe.