DHAKA (TIP): Bangladesh is hopeful of forging regional cooperation through BIMSTEC after the failure of SAARC, a top aide of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Saturday.

“In this context coming together in BIMSTEC is truly important. We already saw earlier SAARC with all our high hopes has not done much, and for the moment it is doubtful whether or not the next summit meeting will happen,” International Affairs Adviser Gowher Rizvi said at the opening of the BIMSTEC Network of Policy Think Tanks (BNPTT) meeting here at the Bay of Bengal grouping’s headquarters.

He said Bangladesh hopes to make up through sub-regional cooperation including #BIMSTEC after the failure of SAARC, bdnews24.com reported. “We have seen NAFTA may or may not survive. We see European Union under challenge. In Bangladesh we see much of the future in the sub-region. It is the sub-region we are focused on. We have BBIN, BCIM and BIMSTEC… this is where we see our future,” Rizvi said, giving examples of the state of the regional groupings in the world. (PTI)