South Asian Association for Regional cooperation
Founded- first meeting 7-8 Dec 1985 Dhaka, Bangladesh
Secretariat- Kathmandu, Nepal
Members- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, SRI lanka.
Observers– Australia, China, European union (EU), Iran, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea, USA.
Potential future members- Myanmar as a full time member, Russia and Turkey as observers.
SOUTH AFRICA has been participating in meetings.
SAARC comprises of 3% of world area and 21% of world population.
It aims at cooperation in Agriculture, Rural development, Telecommunications, Meteorology, Health and population sectors.
Summits
1) 7-8 Dec 1985 Dhaka, Bangladesh – Ataur Rahman Khan
18) 26-27 Nov 2014 Kathmandu, Nepal – Sushil Koirala
19) 9-10 Nov 2016 Islamabad, Pakistan – CANCELLED
20) 2020 NA
Awards – SAARC award, literary award, youth award.
Important schemes–
Visa exemption scheme 1992- ONE YEAR VALIDITY
Now it has 24 categories including dignitaries, judges of HC, parliamentarians, senior officials, entrepreneurs, journalist, athletes
South Asian free trade area (SAFTA) 2006 – BRINGING DUTIES DOWN TO 20%
It has various regional centres, in India we have SDMC ( SAARC disaster management centre) in Gandhinagar Gujarat.
APEX BODIES
There are 6 apex bodies-
- SCCI ( SAARC chamber of commerce and industry)
- SAARCCAW ( South Asian association for regional cooperation)
- SAFA (South Asian federation of accounts)
- SAF ( South Asia Foundation)
- SAIEVAC (South Asia initiative to end violence against children)
- FOSWAL ( Foundation of SAARC writer and literature)
– Abhay Pratap