Experts: Pakistan's India-free South Asia bloc 'bound to fail'

• SAARC has been dormant since 2016 due to India-Pakistan tensions, with no summit held since then.
• Pakistan is proposing a new regional bloc, potentially including Bangladesh and China, that would exclude India.
• This new grouping follows a trilateral cooperation mechanism established by China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in June 2025.
• Experts believe any South Asian bloc without India is unlikely to succeed due to India's significant economic and demographic size.
• Pakistan's Deputy PM Ishaq Dar suggested this new grouping could replace SAARC, aiming for "open and inclusive regionalism."

Why It Matters: Ignoring India's regional dominance dooms any South Asian cooperation efforts.