SAARC NATIONS

SAARC was established in1985. Its members are Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan and Afganistan. The summit conference of its members is held almost every year. SAARC has its secretariat at Kathmandu. The head of the secretariat is called the Secretary General. He is appointed for a team of three years from among the member countries. The logo of SAARC signifies that the member countries are seven. But SAARC has to be changed and made eight because its members have reached eight including Afganistan. They want to live in friendship, good understanding and in peace. The two folded hands signify friendship and the pigeons between the hands are the symbol of peace.

The founder-members who met in Bangladesh in 1985 felt that they share many things in common. They have more or less the same geographical features, economic condition, needs and wants. It they live in peace, help and co-operate one another in development works, they would soon develop their countries to the level of other developed countries of the world. The term regional co-operation denotes that the main purpose of establishing this organization is to help and co-operate one another in all matters in the region.

Principles
There are mainly three basic principles upon which SAARC has been established. These are:

1. One nation to co-operate other nations on the basis of equal sovereignty, regional unity, political independence and non-interference in one another’s internal matters.
2. While giving co-operation in such matters, one has to render it willingly and voluntarily.
3. Each member country has to fulfill its responsibility on the basis of bi-lateral and multi-lateral talks and discussions.
   

The aims and objectives of SAARC as follows:

1. To work for the prosperity of the people of south Asia and to make efforts to improve their living standard.
2. To enhance the economic development, social progress and cultural prosperity of this region and to provide opportunities for the people to develop their potentialities.
3. To develop collective self-reliance among the member States.
4. To identify the problems of one nation by the other nations of the association and to co-operate in such matters maintaining good understanding.
5. To co-operate one another for the development of economic, social, cultural, scientific and technological aspects of each nation.
6. To develop co-operation and good understanding with other developed nations of the world.
7. To seek co-operation and assistance even from other international forums for the benefit of one another.
8. To extend help and co-operation to other international organization to fulfill the common aims and objectives.

A unanimous decision is to be taken, to take steps to fulfill each and every aim and objective of the SAARC, generally at the summit conference. The SAARC Summit Conferences (S.C.) were held in the dates and places as shown in the following table:SAARC stands for South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation. SAARC was established on the 8th December 1985. SAARC has a secretariat. SAARC headquarter is in Kathmandu. SAARC secretariat was established in 16 January 1987. SAARC functions are as follows:

• To co-ordinate and supervise SAARC related activities.
• To co-operate in the meeting/conference of SAARC
• To act as the medium of information between SAARC countries and other International organization.

The Secretariat has, the Secretary General, 8 Directors of 8 member countries and executives. Secretary General is the head of the Secretariat. His/Her tenure is 3 years. The appointment of Secretary General is based on the principles of rotation in alphabetical order of the member countries.
The following dignitaries have served as Secretary-General of the SAARC.

1. Mr. Abul Hasan – Bangladesh
2. Mr. K.K. Bhargav – India
3. Mr. I.H.Zaki – Maldives
4. Mr. Y.K.Silwal – Nepal
5. Mr. N.U.Hasan – Pakistan
6. Mr. N.Rodrigo – Sri Lanka
7. Mr. Q.A.M.A. Rahim – Bangladesh
8. Mr. Shil Kant Sharma – India, at present

Expenditure of SAARC borne by member countries in terms of percentage:

1. India – 32.10%
2. Pakistan – 23.85%
3. Nepal – 11.35%
4. Bangladesh – 11.38%
5. Sri Lanka – 11.35%
6. Bhutan – 5%
7. Maldives – 5%

Sectors of Co-operation of SAARC are as follows:

• Poverty elimination
• Trade development
• Exchange of audio-visual Aids
• Conduction of SAARC Youth Volunteers Programmes
• Technical co-operation: agriculture, communication, sports, education, culture, health activities, environmental programme, art, meteorology, prevention of drug-smuggling, rural development, science, tourism, transport, women development and control of terrorism.