South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

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.

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. For Bangladesh, a prime reason for proposing this regional cooperation framework was the failure of its attempt to join ASEAN. Seeking to replicate the successes of ASEAN and a way to legitimise his government, President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh later wrote 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.

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.

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. 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. The Bangladeshi proposal was promptly endorsed by Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Maldives, however India and Pakistan were sceptical initially. 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.

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. 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. "A Brief on SAARC." South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. No date. See for a complete historical account of SAARC e.g. Michael, Arndt (2013). India's Foreign Policy and Regional Multilateralism (Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 57–112.

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 for 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.

Officially, the union was established in Dhaka with Kathmandu being the union's secretariat-general. The first SAARC summit was held in Dhaka on 7–8 December 1985 and hosted by the President of Bangladesh Hussain Ershad. 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.

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.

Members

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

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. 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 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.

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

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. 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."

Observer countries

States with observer status include Australia, China, the European Union, Iran, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea, and the United States.

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

On 2 August 2006, the foreign ministers of SAARC countries agreed in principle to grant observer status to three applicants; "SAARC to grant observer status to US, S Korea, EU ." Hindustan Times. 2 August 2006. the US and South Korea (both made requests in April 2006), as well as the European Union (requested in July 2006). Waliur Rahman. "US and S Korea to observe SAARC." BBC News , 11 April 2008. On 4 March 2007, Iran requested observer status, followed shortly by Mauritius.

Potential future members

Myanmar has expressed interest in upgrading its status from an observer to a full member of SAARC. China has requested joining SAARC. Russia has applied for observer status membership of SAARC. SAARC The Changing Dimensions: UNU-CRIS Working Papers United Nations University , Comparative Regional Integration Studies Russia keen to join SAARC as observer , Oneindia News Turkey applied for observer status membership of SAARC in 2012. South Africa has participated in meetings. Indonesia, Jordan, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Yemen have expressed interest.

Secretariat

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

Specialized bodies

SAARC member states have established the following specialized bodies within the organization, which have distinct mandates and structures that differ from the regional centers. These bodies are managed by their respective governing boards, composed of representatives from all 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 serve as the member secretaries to the governing board, which reports to the Programming Committee of SAARC.

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.

Source:

Anthem

SAARC does not have an official anthem as yet like some other regional organizations (e.g. ASEAN). Will SAARC have an anthem-like ASEAN? Hindustan Times, 3 November 2014

Apex and Recognized Bodies

SAARC has six Apex Bodies, they are:

• SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI),
• South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Law (SAARCLAW),
• South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA),
• South Asia Foundation (SAF),
• South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC),
• Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL)

SAARC also has about 18 recognized bodies.

SAARC Disaster Management Centre

The SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC) is a regional organization established to enhance disaster risk management and response within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member states. Its primary objective is to provide policy advice, technical support, capacity building, and training for comprehensive disaster risk management in the region.

SAARC SDMC

Key Functions:

• Policy Advice and Technical Support: SDMC offers guidance on disaster management policies and assists in developing systems to improve disaster resilience.
• Capacity Building and Training: The center conducts training programs and workshops to strengthen the disaster management capabilities of member states.
• Information Exchange: Facilitates the sharing of information and expertise among member countries to enhance collaborative disaster risk management efforts.

Initiatives:

• South Asian Disaster Knowledge Network: A platform for sharing disaster-related information and best practices across the region.
• South Asia Digital Vulnerability Atlas (SADVA): An initiative aimed at mapping and analyzing disaster vulnerabilities in South Asia.

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. During the 12th and 13th SAARC summits, extreme emphasis was laid upon greater cooperation between SAARC members to fight terrorism.

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. It was the first time that four countries boycotted a SAARC summit, leading to its cancellation.

The failure of SAARC can also be attributed to conflicts among some of its members. Pakistan would “indirectly target” India at summits, and “try to get the other members to gang up against Delhi,” a retired Sri Lankan foreign secretary told The Diplomat in 2019. India, for its part, continued to emphasize its concerns over terrorism linked to Pakistan, which it regarded as a bilateral matter and therefore not appropriate for discussion in multilateral settings.

SAARC has faced persistent challenges related to terrorism, including cross-border militancy and allegations of state-sponsored extremism, over several decades. In this context, terrorism has come to symbolize the organization's stagnation, exacerbating existing divisions among member states. According to global and regional terrorism analysts, terrorism in South Asia manifests in various forms—such as state-supported militancy, extremist groups with alleged state backing, separatist movements, and transnational extremist networks—contributing to broader regional instability. The 2016 Uri attack significantly impacted bilateral diplomatic relations and further hindered regional cooperation efforts within SAARC.

Following political changes in Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who served as the chief adviser to the interim government in Bangladesh, had publicly expressed interest in revitalizing the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on multiple occasions. However, some policymakers in India viewed Bangladesh's initiative with skepticism. India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, reportedly indicated that Bangladesh was “batting for Pakistan” by attempting to revive SAARC. During a bilateral meeting between Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Towhid Hossain and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar in Muscat, Oman, on 16 February, India issued a strong statement on terrorism. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Jaishankar urged Bangladesh “to stop batting for Pakistan and normalising terrorism” through efforts to resume SAARC’s activities. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, speaking at a press briefing, stated: “Everyone in South Asia is aware of which country and what activities are responsible for stymieing SAARC. EAM conveyed that it is important that Bangladesh should not normalise terrorism.” While Pakistan was not named directly, the remarks were widely interpreted as referring to its alleged role in undermining regional cooperation.

Dr. Minendra Rijal, former Defence Minister of Nepal, stated that Pakistan’s support for terrorism has contributed to the stagnation of SAARC, obstructed regional economic integration, and resulted in substantial economic losses for Pakistan.

China too has been trying to undermine the SAARC grouping and has been suggesting alternatives for the same. Analysts in New Delhi have expressed little surprise at the proposed initiative by China and Pakistan for regional cooperation in South Asia. According to a research fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, China has sought to promote alternative regional frameworks since its proposal to join SAARC was rejected in 2005. Over the past two decades, it has launched several mechanisms for regional engagement, including the China-South Asia Cooperation Forum in 2006, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Trans-Himalayan Connectivity Network in 2018—which includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nepal—and the China-South Asian Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Center in 2021.All South Asian countries, except India and Bhutan, are members of the BRI. As such, the latest proposal for regional cooperation is seen as part of China's continued efforts to build alternatives to SAARC.

SAARC has generally been ineffective at achieving enhanced regionalism.

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. The Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2006, and the Trade Liberalization Programme commenced from 1 July 2006. 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. In 2012 SAARC exports increased substantially to $354.6 billion from $206.7 billion in 2009. 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.

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%.

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.

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:

• To encourage individuals and organizations based in South Asia to undertake programmes and activities that complement the efforts of SAARC.
• To encourage individuals and organizations in South Asia contributing to bettering the conditions of women and children.
• To honour outstanding contributions and achievements of individuals and organizations within the region in the fields of peace, development, poverty alleviation, environmental protection, and regional cooperation.
• To honour any other contributions and achievement not covered above of individuals and organizations in the region.

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.

SAARC Literary Award

The SAARC Literary Award is an annual award conferred by the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) since 2001 which is an apex SAARC body. 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. Mahasweta Devi to get SAARC Literary Award Oneindia.in 30 March 2007

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

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.

Previous Winners:

• 1992: World Population Issue and Welfare - Painting; - Devang Soparkar (India)
• 1997: Outstanding Social Service in Community Welfare – Sukur Salek (Bangladesh)
• 1998: New Inventions and Shanu — Najmul Hasnain Shah (Pakistan)
• 2001: Creative Photography: South Asian Diversity – Mushfiqul Alam (Bangladesh)
• 2002: Outstanding contribution to protect the Environment – Masil Khan (Pakistan)
• 2003: Invention in the Field of Traditional Medicine – Hassan Sher (Pakistan)
• 2004: Outstanding contribution to raising awareness of TB and/or HIV/AIDS – Ajij Prasad Poudyal (Nepal)
• 2006: Promotion of Tourism in South Asia – Syed Zafar Abbas Naqvi (Pakistan)
• 2008: Protecting the Environment in South Asia – Deepani Jayantha (Sri Lanka)
• 2009: Outstanding contribution to humanitarian works in the aftermath of Natural Disasters – Ravikant Singh (India)
• 2010: Outstanding contribution for the Protection of Environment and mitigation of Climate Change – Anoka Primrose Abeyrathne (Sri Lanka)
• 2011: Youth leadership in the fight against social ills - Mr. Mohamed Faseen Rafiu (The Maldives)

Secretaries-General of SAARC

SAARC summits

Main article: List of SAARC summits

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.

|File:Muhammad Yunus at the UNGA79 - 2024 (cropped).jpg|Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus Chief Adviser to the Government of Bangladesh |File:Dasho Tshering Tobgay.jpg|Bhutan Tshering Tobgay Prime Minister of Bhutan |File:Official Photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Potrait.png|Republic of India Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India |File:Dr Mohamed Muizzu portrait.jpg|Maldives Mohamed Muizzu President of the Maldives |File:Hon. Sushila Karki (profile).jpg|Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal Sushila Karki Prime Minister of Nepal |File:Shehbaz Sharif 2023 (cropped).jpg|Islamic Republic of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif Prime Minister of Pakistan |File:Minister of External Affairs, Govt. of Bharat, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar with the President of Sri Lanka Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake (cropped).jpg|Sri Lanka Anura Kumara Dissanayake President of Sri Lanka

Current leaders

Notes

References

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