South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

Jaishankar also attended numerous multilaterals, including some regional ones like Vizgrad, Europe, CELAC, that is the Latin American countries, European Union, FIPIC, which is Pacific countries.

In fact, all those regional organizations, except SAARC itself, South Asia, SAARC foreign ministers used to meet every year till about 2019 on the sidelines of the UNGA.

India also co-sponsored a new multilateral called Partnership for Multilateralism.

It was started actually by the EU, Canada, Brazil and Kenya for a non-superpower-led grouping.

The invitee, uh, the pr- uh, uh, prime minister of Bangladesh did not come, uh, and that is an ongoing bilateral, uh, issue between the two countries.

But the fact that India hosted this big summit but didn't have a single neighbor or leader from any of the neighboring countries, not just SAARC, present here, what does that mean to you? Do you think that is something that India needs to, uh, uh, needs to actually make good on, do better the next time? Dr.

Jacob?

I certainly, um, um, agree that, um, India should have, um, uh, brought its neighborhood together under a certain platform which we already have, the BRICS.

Ambassador Bisaria, do you think it matters? This is, after all, the global platform.

Does it matter that India's neighbors were not present for one reason, uh, or another?

I think it does, and I think, uh, it would have been a much better situation, uh, if, uh, the neighbors were present, uh, with the BIMSTEC neighbors, if not the SAARC neighbors.

And, um, I...