Region to benefit if SAARC revived

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus yesterday reiterated his call to the South Asian leaders to activate SAARC for the betterment of the people of the entire region.

“South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation [SAARC] is very important to me. I spoke about activating the forum immediately after taking oath as the chief adviser,” he said.

He was addressing a conference of the SAARC Federation of Oncologists (SFO) via videoconference from the state guest house Jamuna in Dhaka.

A delegation of SFO also met Yunus at Jamuna.

The Nobel laureate said the entire South Asia will be benefited from activating SAARC which remained dysfunctional due to some issues between India and Pakistan.

“Problems between the two countries should not affect other countries in South Asia,” he said, adding, “If South Asian leaders meet every year, stand together and take pictures; then a message goes to the whole world that we are united. This will present the South Asian countries before the world in a positive way and will help us move forward.”

During the meeting, the chief adviser paid tribute to SFO founder Prof ABMF Karim.

Prof Yunus recalled how Prof Karim helped him and his family when his younger brother, writer and television personality Muhammad Jahangir, was diagnosed with cancer.

He said people of the country is still not getting the support they need for cancer treatment. However, he praised SAARC’s role in providing treatment to cancer patients.