South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

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South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
In other languages:
  • Bengali:দক্ষিণ এশীয় আঞ্চলিক সহযোগিতা সংস্থা
    Dari:
    اتحادیه همکاری‌های منطقه‌ای جنوب آسیا
    Dzongkha:༄ ལྷོ ཨེསིཨ་ རེ་གིཨོནལ་ ཅོཨོཔེརཏིཨོན་ ཀོ་མི་ཏི།
    Hindi:दक्षिण एशियाई क्षेत्रीय सहयोग संगठन
    Maldivian:
    ދެކުނު އޭޝިޔާގެ ސަރަޙައްދީ އެއްބާރުލުމުގެ ޖަމިއްޔާ
    Nepali:दक्षिण एसियाली क्षेत्रीय सहयोग सङ्गठन
    Pashto:
    د سویلي اسیا لپاره د سیمه ایزې همکارۍ ټولنه
    Sinhala:දකුණු ආසියාතික කලාපීය සහයෝගිතා සංවිධානය
    Tamil:தெற்காசிய நாடுகளின் பிராந்தியக் கூட்டமைப்பு
    Urdu:
    جنوبی ایشیائی علاقائی تعاون کی تنظیم
SAARC Logo.svg
Logo
South Asia (orthographic projection) without national boundaries.svg
SAARC Region
SAARC3.svg
  Member states
  Observer states
Headquarters Kathmandu, Nepal
Official languagesEnglish
Demonym(s) South Asian
Member states
8 members:
9 observers:
Leaders
Golam Sarwar [1]
Establishment8 December 1985(38 years ago) (8 December 1985)
Area
• Total
5,099,611 km2 (1,968,971 sq mi)(7th)
• Water (%)
6.8
Population
• 2015 estimate
1,713,870,000 [2] (1st)
• Density
336.1/km2 (870.5/sq mi)
GDP  (PPP)2022 estimate
• Total
US$14.756 trillion [3] [ citation needed ](3rd)
GDP  (nominal)2022 estimate
• Total
$4.359 trillion [3] [ citation needed ](3rd)
Currency
8 currencies
Time zone UTC +4:30 to +6 (AFT, PST, MVT, IST, SLST, NPT, BST, BTT)
Calling code
8 codes
Internet TLD
8 ccTLDs
Website
saarc-sec.org OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. SAARC comprises 3% of the world's land area, 21% of the world's population and 5.21% (US$4.47 trillion) [3] of the global economy, as of 2021.

Contents

SAARC was founded in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. [4] Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The organization promotes economic development and regional integration. [5] It launched the South Asian Free Trade Area in 2006. [6] SAARC maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the United Nations as an observer and has developed links with multilateral entities, including the European Union. However, due to the geopolitical conflict between India and Pakistan and the situation in Afghanistan, the organization has been suspended for a long time, and India currently cooperates with its eastern neighbors through BIMSTEC. [7] [8]

Historical background

The idea of co-operation among South Asian Countries was discussed in three conferences: the Asian Relations Conference held in New Delhi in April 1947; the Baguio Conference in the Philippines in May 1950; and the Colombo Powers Conference held in Sri Lanka in April 1954. [9]

A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various Asian regional organisations v * d * e Supranational Asian Bodies.svg
A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various Asian regional organisations v • d • e

In the ending years of the 1970s, the seven inner South Asian nations that included Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, agreed upon the creation of a trade bloc and to provide a platform for the people of South Asia to work together in a spirit of friendship, trust, and understanding. President Ziaur Rahman later addressed official letters to the leaders of the countries of South Asia, presenting his vision for the future of the region and compelling arguments for co-operation. [10] During his visit to India in December 1977, Rahman discussed the issue of regional cooperation with the Indian Prime Minister, Morarji Desai. In the inaugural speech to the Colombo Plan Consultative Committee which met in Kathmandu also in 1977, King Birendra of Nepal gave a call for close regional cooperation among South Asian countries in sharing river waters. [11]

After the USSR's intervention in Afghanistan, efforts to establish the union were accelerated in 1979 amid the resulting rapid deterioration of the South Asian security situation. [11] Responding to Rahman and Birendra's convention, officials of the foreign ministries of the seven countries met for the first time in Colombo in April 1981. [11] The Bangladeshi proposal was promptly endorsed by Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Maldives, however India and Pakistan were sceptical initially. [11] The Indian concern was the proposal's reference to the security matters in South Asia and feared that Rahman's proposal for a regional organisation might provide an opportunity for new smaller neighbours to re-internationalize all bilateral issues and to join with each other to form an opposition against India. Pakistan assumed that it might be an Indian strategy to organize the other South Asian countries against Pakistan and ensure a regional market for Indian products, thereby consolidating and further strengthening India's economic dominance in the region. [11]

However, after a series of diplomatic consultations headed by Bangladesh between South Asian UN representatives at the UN headquarters in New York, from September 1979 to 1980, it was agreed that Bangladesh would prepare the draft of a working paper for discussion among the foreign secretaries of South Asian countries. [11] The foreign secretaries of the inner seven countries again delegated a Committee of the Whole in Colombo in September 1981, which identified five broad areas for regional cooperation. New areas of co-operation were added in the following years. [12]

In 1983, at the international conference held in Dhaka by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the foreign ministers of the inner seven countries adopted the Declaration on South Asian Association Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and formally launched the Integrated Programme of Action (IPA) initially in five agreed areas of cooperation, namely, Agriculture; Rural Development; Telecommunications; Meteorology; and Health and Population Activities. [13] [14]

Officially, the union was established in Dhaka with Kathmandu being the union's secretariat-general. [15] The first SAARC summit was held in Dhaka on 7–8 December 1985 and hosted by the President of Bangladesh Hussain Ershad. [16] The declaration was signed by, namely, King of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuk; President of Pakistan Zia-ul-Haq; Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi; King of Nepal Birendra Shah; President of Sri Lanka JR Jayewardene; and President of Maldives Maumoon Gayoom. [16]

Members and observers

Economic data is sourced from the International Monetary Fund, current as of November 2024 unless stated otherwise, and is given in US dollars. [17]

Members

CountryPopulation [18] [19] (2021) GDP (nominal) [US$ million, 2024] [20] GDP (PPP) [US$ million, 2024] GDP per capita
(Nominal) 		GDP per capita
(PPP) 		GDP growth rate
(2024) 		Exports
(US$ million, 2024 or earlier) 		Foreign direct investment
(US$ million, 2023) 		Foreign exchange reserves (US$ million) Defence budget (US$ million) [21] Literacy rate (above age 15) [22] Life expectancy Population below poverty line Primary school enrolment [23] [24] Secondary school enrollment [25] Population undernourished (%)Human Development IndexDemocracy IndexGlobal Terrorism IndexG20 BRICS BIMSTEC IORA APTA BBIN SASEC AIIB ACU ACD ADB World BankNuclear weapons
Flag of Afghanistan (2013-2021).svg  Afghanistan 40,099,462$14,467$72,512$411$2,116$1,476$20.6$443$1,100 [26] 37.3%63.6742%88%54%28.5%0.462

(182)

0.26

(167)

9.233

(1)

✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✔✔✔✖
Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 169,356,251$451,468$1,690,000$2,625$9,8765.4%$60,138$1,385.16$25,500$5,20075.2%73.1024.3%98%79%15.1%0.670

(129)

5.87

(75)

0

(124)

✖✖✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✖
Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan 777,486$3,110$12,980$4,068$16,7545.2%$791$11.92$972$7.3 [27] 66.6%70.2012%97%78%8.7%0.681

(125)

5.54

(81)

0.305

(107)

✖✖✔✖✖✔✔✖✔✔✔✔✖
Flag of India.svg  India 1,407,563,842$3,889,130$16,024,460$2,698$11,1127.0%$773,223$28,070.21$675,653$81,40077.7%70.121.9%97%75%14.2%0.644

(134)

7.18

(41)

4.222

(11)

✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔
Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives 521,457$7,199$13,870$17,287$34,3224.7%$5,096$761.52$588$5597%77.3416%97%N/A3.1%0.762

(87)

N/AN/A✖✖✖✖✖✖✔✔✔✖✔✔✖
Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal 30,034,989$43,673$169,120$1,381$5,3483.1%$2,722$73.83$18,400$40067.9%70.2513.4%97%67%11.2%0.601

(146)

4.6

(98)

4.791

(32)

✖✖✔✖✖✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✖
Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 231,402,117$374,595$1,580,000$1,588$6,7152.4%$38,700$1,818$15,965$11,00058%66.4824.3%92%34%18.3%0.540

(164)

3.25

(118)

10

(10)

✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✔✔✔✔✔✔
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka 21,773,441$74,846$319,248$3,330$14,255$13,082$711.83$6,467$2,00092.2%75.286.7%99%77%9.8%0.780

(79)

6.17

(70)

4.077

(42)

✖✖✔✔✔✖✔✔✔✔✔✔✖

The member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. [28]

SAARC was founded by seven states in 1985. In 2005, Afghanistan began negotiating their accession to SAARC and formally applied for membership in the same year. [29] [30] The issue of Afghanistan joining SAARC generated a great deal of debate in each member state, including concerns about the definition of South Asian identity [31] because Afghanistan is considered a Central Asian country, while it is neither accepted as a Middle Eastern country, nor as a Central Asian country, or as part of the Indian subcontinent, other than being only in part of South Asia. [32]

SAARC member states imposed a stipulation for Afghanistan to hold a general election; the non-partisan elections were held in late 2005. [31] Despite initial reluctance and internal debates, Afghanistan joined SAARC as its eighth member state in April 2007. [31] [33]

Despite the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in 2021, Afghanistan is still a member of SAARC, despite calls for their suspension and none of the other SAARC members recognizing the Taliban government. [34] The issue was further exasperated as it was Afghanistan's turn to select a Secretary General for SAARC in 2023. All other members decided to skip Afghanistan and award the selection to Bangladesh, with Nepali foreign secretary, Bharat Raj Paudyal, stating that "When the term of the Bangladeshi secretary general ends, if the problems in Afghanistan are resolved, the new secretary general will be from Afghanistan, not from Bhutan." [35] [36]

Observer countries

States with observer status include [37] Australia, [38] China, the European Union, Iran, Japan, [39] Mauritius, [40] Myanmar, South Korea, and the United States. [41] [42]

China's 2007 application for observer status received strong support from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan. [43] Other South Asian members of SAARC agreed to support China's observer status, but were not as strongly in favor. [43]

On 2 August 2006, the foreign ministers of SAARC countries agreed in principle to grant observer status to three applicants; [44] the US and South Korea (both made requests in April 2006), [44] as well as the European Union (requested in July 2006). [45] On 4 March 2007, Iran requested observer status, [46] followed shortly by Mauritius.

Potential future members

Myanmar has expressed interest in upgrading its status from an observer to a full member of SAARC. [47] China has requested joining SAARC. [48] Russia has applied for observer status membership of SAARC. [49] [50] [51] Turkey applied for observer status membership of SAARC in 2012. [49] [50] [51] South Africa has participated in meetings. [52] Indonesia, Jordan, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Yemen have expressed interest.[ citation needed ]

Secretariat

Secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Kathmandu, Nepal SAARC Secretariat at Kathmandu.JPG
Secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Kathmandu, Nepal

The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987 and was inaugurated by the late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal. [53]

Specialized bodies

SAARC member states have created the following specialized bodies of SAARC in the member states which have special mandates and structures different from the regional centers. These bodies are managed by their respective governing boards composed of representatives from all the member states, the representative of H.E. secretary-general of SAARC and the ministry of foreign/external affairs of the host government. The heads of these bodies act as member secretary to the governing board which reports to the programming committee of SAARC.

Specialized BodyLocationCountryWebsite
SAARC Arbitration Council (SARCO)IslamabadPakistan www.sarco-sec.org
SAARC Development Fund (SDF)ThimphuBhutan www.sdfsec.org
South Asian University (SAU)New DelhiIndia www.sau.int
South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO)DhakaBangladesh www.sarso.org.bd

Regional Centres

The SAARC Secretariat is supported by following Regional Centres established in the Member States to promote regional co-operation. These Centres are managed by Governing Boards comprising representatives from all the Member States, SAARC Secretary-General and the Ministry of Foreign/External Affairs of the Host Government. The Director of the Centre acts as Member Secretary to the Governing Board which reports to the Programming Committee. After 31 December 2015, there 6 regional centers were stopped by unanimous decision. These are SMRC, SFC, SDC, SCZMC, SIC, SHRDC. [54]

Regional CentreLocationCountryWebsite
SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC) Dhaka Bangladesh Official website
SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC)DhakaBangladesh
SAARC Forestry Centre (SFC) Thimphu Bhutan
SAARC Documentation Centre (SDC) New Delhi India
SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC) Gandhinagar India Official website
SAARC Coastal Zone Management Centre (SCZMC) Malé Maldives
SAARC Information Centre (SIC) Kathmandu Nepal
SAARC Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre (STAC)KathmanduNepal Official website
SAARC Human Resources Development Centre (SHRDC) Islamabad Pakistan
SAARC Energy Centre (SEC)IslamabadPakistan Official website
SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC) Colombo Sri Lanka Official website

Anthem

SAARC does not have an official anthem like some other regional organizations (e.g. ASEAN). [55]

Apex and Recognized Bodies

SAARC has six Apex Bodies, [56] they are:

SAARC also has about 18 recognized bodies. [58]

SAARC Disaster Management Centre

The South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Disaster Management Centre (SDMC-IU) has been set up at Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GIDM) Campus, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. Eight Member States, i.e., Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are expected to be served by the SDMC (IU). It is entrusted with the responsibility of serving Member States by providing policy advice, technical support on system development, capacity building services and training for holistic management of disaster risk in the SAARC region. The centre also facilitates exchange of information and expertise for effective and efficient management of disaster risk.

Political issues

Lasting peace and prosperity in South Asia has been elusive because of the various ongoing conflicts in the region. Political dialogue is often conducted on the margins of SAARC meetings which have refrained from interfering in the internal matters of its member states. [59] During the 12th and 13th SAARC summits, extreme emphasis was laid upon greater cooperation between SAARC members to fight terrorism. [60] [61]

The 19th SAARC summit scheduled to be held in Pakistan was called off as India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan decided to boycott it due to a terrorist attack on an army camp in Uri. [62] [63] It was the first time that four countries boycotted a SAARC summit, leading to its cancellation. [64] [65]

SAARC has generally been ineffective at achieving enhanced regionalism. [66]

South Asian Free Trade Area

Countries under the South Asian Free Trade Area SAARC.PNG
Countries under the South Asian Free Trade Area

The SAFTA was envisaged primarily as the first step towards the transition to a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) leading subsequently towards a Customs Union, Common Market and the Economic Union. In 1995, Sixteenth session of the Council of Ministers (New Delhi, 18–19 December 1995) agreed on the need to strive for the realization of SAFTA and to this end, an Inter-Governmental Expert Group (IGEG) was set up in 1996 to identify the necessary steps for progressing to a free trade area. The Tenth SAARC Summit (Colombo, 29–31 July 1998) decided to set up a Committee of Experts (COE) to draft a comprehensive treaty framework for creating a free trade area within the region, taking into consideration the asymmetries in development within the region and bearing in mind the need to fix realistic and achievable targets.

The SAFTA Agreement was signed on 6 January 2004 during Twelfth SAARC Summit held in Islamabad, Pakistan. [67] The Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2006, and the Trade Liberalization Programme commenced from 1 July 2006. [68] Under this agreement, SAARC members will bring their duties down to 20 percent by 2009. Following the Agreement coming into force the SAFTA Ministerial Council (SMC) has been established comprising the Commerce Ministers of the Member States. [69] In 2012 SAARC exports increased substantially to $354.6 billion from $206.7 billion in 2009. [70] Imports too increased from $330 billion to $602 billion over the same period. But the intra-SAARC trade amounts to just a little over 1% of SAARC's GDP. In contrast to SAARC, in ASEAN (which is actually smaller than SAARC in terms of the size of the economy) the intra-bloc trade stands at 10% of its GDP.

The SAFTA was envisaged to gradually move towards the South Asian Economic Union, but the current intra-regional trade and investment relation are not encouraging and it may be difficult to achieve this target. SAARC intra-regional trade stands at just five percent on the share of intra-regional trade in overall trade in South Asia. Similarly, foreign direct investment is also dismal. The intra-regional FDI flow stands at around four percent of the total foreign investment. [71]

The Asian Development Bank has estimated that inter-regional trade in SAARC region possessed the potential of shooting up agricultural exports by $14 billion per year from existing level of $8 billion to $22 billion. The study by Asian Development Bank states that against the potential average SAARC intra-regional trade of $22 billion per year, the actual trade in South Asia has been only around $8 billion. The uncaptured potential for intra-regional trade is therefore $14 billion per year, i.e., 68%. [72] [73]

SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme

The SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme was launched in 1992. The leaders at the Fourth Summit (Islamabad, 29–31 December 1988), realizing the importance of people-to-people contact among SAARC countries, decided that certain categories of dignitaries should be entitled to a Special Travel document. The document would exempt them from visas within the region. As directed by the Summit, the Council of Ministers regularly kept under review the list of entitled categories.

Currently, the list included 24 categories of entitled persons, which include dignitaries, judges of higher courts, parliamentarians, senior officials, entrepreneurs, journalists, and athletes.

The Visa Stickers are issued by the respective Member States to the entitled categories of that particular country. The validity of the Visa Sticker is generally for one year. The implementation is reviewed regularly by the Immigration Authorities of SAARC Member States. [74]

Awards

SAARC Award

The Twelfth (12th) Summit approved the SAARC Award to support individuals and organizations within the region. The main aims of the SAARC Award are:

The SAARC Award consists of a gold medal, a letter of citation, and cash prize of $25,000. Since the institution of the SAARC Award in 2004, it has been awarded only once and the Award was posthumously conferred upon the late President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh. [75]

SAARC Literary Award

Recipients of SAARC Literary Award 2013 Recipants of SAARC Literary Award 2013.jpg
Recipients of SAARC Literary Award 2013

The SAARC Literary Award is an annual award conferred by the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) since 2001 [76] [77] which is an apex SAARC body. [78] Some of the prominent recipients of this award include Shamshur Rahman, Mahasweta Devi, Jayanta Mahapatra, Abhi Subedi, Mark Tully, Sitakant Mahapatra, Uday Prakash, Suman Pokhrel, and Abhay K. [79]

Nepali poet, lyricist, and translator Suman Pokhrel is the only poet/writer to be awarded twice. [80]

SAARC Youth Award

The SAARC Youth Award is awarded to outstanding individuals from the SAARC region. The award is notable because of the recognition it gives to the Award winner in the SAARC region. The award is based on specific themes which apply to each year. The award recognizes and promotes the commitment and talent of the youth who give back to the world at large through various initiatives such as Inventions, Protection of the Environment and Disaster relief. The recipients who receive this award are ones who have dedicated their lives to their individual causes to improve situations in their own countries as well as paving a path for the SAARC region to follow. The Committee for the SAARC Youth Award selects the best candidate based on his/her merits and their decision is final. [81]

Previous Winners:

Secretaries-General of SAARC

#NameCountryTook officeLeft office
1 Abul Ahsan Bangladesh 16 January 198515 October 1989
2 Kant Kishore Bhargava India 17 October 198931 December 1991
3 Ibrahim Hussein Zaki Maldives 1 January 199231 December 1993
4 Yadav Kant Silwal Nepal 1 January 199431 December 1995
5 Naeem U. Hasan Pakistan 1 January 199631 December 1998
6 Nihal Rodrigo Sri Lanka 1 January 199910 January 2002
7 Q. A. M. A. Rahim Bangladesh11 January 200228 February 2005
8 Chenkyab Dorji Bhutan 1 March 200529 February 2008
9 Sheel Kant Sharma India1 March 200828 February 2011
10 Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed Maldives1 March 201111 March 2012
11 Ahmed Saleem Maldives12 March 201228 February 2014
12 Arjun Bahadur Thapa Nepal1 March 201428 February 2017
13 Amjad Hussain B. Sial Pakistan1 March 201729 February 2020
14 Esala Ruwan Weerakoon Sri Lanka1 March 20203 March 2023
15 Golam Sarwar Bangladesh4 March 2023Incumbent

SAARC summits

NoDateCountryHostHost leader
1st7–8 December 1985 Bangladesh Dhaka Ataur Rahman Khan
2nd16–17 November 1986 India Bengaluru Rajiv Gandhi
3rd2–4 November 1987 Nepal Kathmandu King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah
4th29–31 December 1988 Pakistan Islamabad Benazir Bhutto
5th21–23 November 1990 Maldives Malé Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
6th21 December 1991 Sri Lanka Colombo Ranasinghe Premadasa
7th10–11 April 1993BangladeshDhaka Khaleda Zia
8th2–4 May 1995India New Delhi P V Narasimha Rao
9th12–14 May 1997MaldivesMaléMaumoon Abdul Gayoom
10th29–31 July 1998Sri LankaColombo Chandrika Kumaratunga
11th4–6 January 2002NepalKathmandu Sher Bahadur Deuba
12th2–6 January 2004PakistanIslamabad Zafarullah Khan Jamali
13th12–13 November 2005BangladeshDhakaKhaleda Zia
14th3–4 April 2007IndiaNew Delhi Manmohan Singh
15th1–3 August 2008Sri LankaColombo Mahinda Rajapaksa
16th28–29 April 2010 Bhutan Thimphu Jigme Thinley
17th 10–11 November 2011Maldives Addu Mohammed Nasheed
18th 26–27 November 2014 [83] NepalKathmandu Sushil Koirala
19th 15–16 November 2016PakistanIslamabadCancelled

Current leaders of SAARC

Leaders are either heads of state or heads of government, depending on which is constitutionally the chief executive of the nation's government.

Current leaders

CountryChief executiveIncumbent
Afghanistan Supreme Leader ( de facto ) Hibatullah Akhundzada
Bangladesh Chief Adviser to the Government Muhammad Yunus
Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu
Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is still used by SAARC, and the Taliban are not recognized as the rightful government of Afghanistan by SAARC; please see the SAARC website.

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Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is head of a SAARC Secretariat, which is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. SAARC is an economic and geopolitical union between the eight South Asian member nations, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Secretary-General is appointed for a three-year term by election by a council of Ministers from member states. Secretary-General is assisted by eight deputies, one from each nation, who also reside in Kathmandu. SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987 by Bangladeshi diplomat Abul Ahsan, who was its first Secretary-General, and was inaugurated by King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal. Since its creation, its member nations have contributed to a total of fourteenth General Secretaries. Golam Sarwar from Bangladesh is the current Secretary-General of SAARC, having assumed charge on 4 March 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation</span>

The South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Program, set up in 2001, brings together Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in a project-based partnership to promote regional prosperity by improving cross-border connectivity, boosting trade among member countries, and strengthening regional economic cooperation. As of June 2020, SASEC countries have implemented 61 regional projects worth over $13 billion in the energy, transport, trade facilitation, economic corridor development, and information and communications technology (ICT) sectors. The Manila, Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) serves as the Secretariat for the SASEC member countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Asia Peace Initiatives</span>

The South Asia Peace Initiative (SAPI) aims to promote peace and cooperation through leadership consultations and grassroots activities in South Asian nations. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an association aiming to promote friendly relations among regional countries from South Asia. It was established in Dhaka on 8 December 1985, and currently is made up of 8 states; Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Its Secretariat was established in Kathmandu, and the primary objective of this association is to develop peace and harmony among member states through cultural exchange and business. It is a civil society initiative with, to date, a record of 17 series of SAPI conferences, organized in Nepal, India, and Afghanistan. This initiative is set to continue further. Former Minister of the Ministry of Co-operatives and Poverty Alleviation (Nepal) of the Government of Nepal, and member of the Nepalese Constituent Assembly, Ek Nath Dhakal are conveners of South Asia Peace Initiative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ram Upendra Das</span> Indian economist (1967–2024)

Ram Upendra Das was an Indian economist and author. He was appointed as the first Head of the Centre for Regional Trade, a newly established institute of the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, as a recognition to his valuable contribution to India's economic engagements with different regions and the world. He was until recently professor at think tank Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) in New Delhi. He has served as a member of various high-level expert groups; he contributed towards drafting the SAFTA Treaty and the SAARC Agreement on Trade in Services (SATIS) and India's economic agreements with other countries and regions such as the ASEAN.

The eighteenth summit of 'South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation' (SAARC) was held in Kathmandu, the capital of Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal during 26–27 November 2014. The theme of the summit was Deeper Integration for Peace and Prosperity, focused on enhancing connectivity between the member states for easier transit-transport across the region. Sushil Koirala, the then Nepalese prime minister, was the main host of the event which took place in Rastriya Sabha Griha The summit took place after an interval of three years as the previous summit was held in 2011 in Maldives.

The 19th SAARC summit was a scheduled diplomatic conference which was originally planned to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 15–19 November 2016, but got cancelled after an attack on an Indian army camp in Kashmir. The summit was to be attended by the leaders of the eight SAARC member states and representatives of observers and guest states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Asian foreign policy of the Narendra Modi government</span>

Neighbourhood First Policy of India is a core component of India's foreign policy. It focuses on peaceful relations and collaborative synergetic co-development with its South Asian neighbours of the Indian subcontinent encompassing a diverse range of topics, such as economics, technology, research, education, connectivity, space program, defence security, environment and climate challenge. This policy creates new avenues as well as leverages to the existing regional cooperation initiatives such as SAARC, SASEC, BBIN, and BIMSTEC. It compliments India's Look East policy focused on Southeast Asia and Look West Policy focused on Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Asia Satellite</span> Indian communications satellite

The South Asia Satellite, formerly known as SAARC Satellite, is a geostationary communications and meteorology satellite operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region. The satellite was launched on 5 May 2017. During the 18th SAARC summit held in Nepal in 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi mooted the idea of a satellite serving the needs of SAARC member nations as a part of his neighbourhood first policy. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka are the users of the multi-dimensional facilities provided by the satellite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBIN</span> Subregional initiative in South Asia

The Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Initiative is a subregional architecture of countries in Eastern South Asia, a subregion of South Asia. It meets through official representation of member states to formulate, implement and review quadrilateral agreements across areas such as water resources management, connectivity of power, transport, and infrastructure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Asia Foundation</span> Organization promoting regional cooperation among 8 countries

South Asia Foundation (SAF) was founded by UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Madanjeet Singh in 2000. The South Asia Foundation (SAF) is a secular, non-profit and non-political international organization, comprising eight autonomous chapters: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recognized as a regional apex trade body by South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is a constellation of the eight national Federation Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the member states of SAARC. The rationale behind the creation of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the SAARC countries was to promote trade and industry in the region and to develop and achieve common objectives in the areas of trade and industry, moreover, the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry is also accepted as the voice of the private sector across the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in South Asia</span> Epidemiology of COVID-19 pandemic in Southern Asia

Countries and territories in South Asia have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first South Asian country to report a confirmed case was Nepal, which documented its first case on 23 January 2020, in a man who had returned from Wuhan on 9 January. As of 2 July, at least one case of COVID-19 has been reported in every country in South Asia. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Maldives have implemented lockdowns, Sri Lanka has responded with quarantine curfews while India and Nepal have declared a country-wide lockdown. Countries have also instituted various levels of restrictions on international travel, some countries have completely sealed off their land borders and grounded most international flights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SAARC Development Fund</span> South Asian financial institution

SAARC Development Fund (SDF) (also known as SAARC Development Fund Secretariat For Regional Integration) is a regional financial institution based in Thimphu, Bhutan.

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