SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation)

The South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is
an organization of South Asian
nations, founded in December
1985.

* It is dedicated to economic,
technological, social, and cultural
development emphasizing
collective self-reliance.

* Its seven
founding members are
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri
Lanka.

* Afghanistan joined the
organization in 2005.

* Meetings
of heads of state are usually
scheduled annually; meetings of
foreign secretaries, twice
annually.

* It is headquartered in
Kathmandu, Nepal.


* The 11 stated areas of
cooperation are agriculture;
education, culture, and sports;
health, population, and child
welfare; the environment and
meteorology; rural development
(including the SAARC Youth
Volunteers Program); tourism;
transport; science and
technology; communications.
History


* The concept of SAARC was first
adopted by Bangladesh during
1977, under the administration
of President Ziaur Rahman. In the
late 1970s, SAARC nations agreed
upon the creation of a trade bloc
consisting of South Asian
countries.
The idea of regional
cooperation in South Asia was
again mooted in May 1980. The
foreign secretaries of the seven
countries met for the first time in
Colombo in April 1981. The
Committee of the Whole, which
met in Colombo in August 1985,
identified five broad areas for
regional cooperation.

* New areas
of cooperation were added in
the following years.


* OBJECTIVES of SAARC:

The objectives of the Association
as defined in the Charter are:
* to promote the welfare of the
people of South Asia and to
improve their quality of life;

* to accelerate economic growth,
social progress and cultural
development in the region and to
provide all individuals the
opportunity to live in dignity and
to realize their full potential;

* to promote and strengthen
collective self-reliance among the
countries of South Asia;

* to contribute to mutual trust,
understanding and appreciation
of one another's problems;

* to promote active collaboration
and mutual assistance in the
economic, social, cultural,
technical and scientific fields;

* to strengthen cooperation with
other developing countries;

* to strengthen cooperation
among themselves in
international forums on matters
of common interest; and

* to cooperate with international
and regional organisations with
similar aims and purposes.


* Afghanistan was added to the
regional grouping on 13
November 2005, With the
addition of Afghanistan, the total
number of member states were
raised to eight (8).