South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an organization of
South Asian nations, which was established on 8 December 1985 when the government of
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka formally adopted its
charter providing for the promotion of economic and social progress, cultural development
within the South Asia region and also for friendship and cooperation with other developing
countries. It is dedicated to economic, technological, social, and cultural development
emphasizing collective self-reliance. Its seven founding members are Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India,
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Afghanistan joined the organization in 2007.
Meetings of heads of state are usually scheduled annually; meetings of foreign secretaries,
twice annually. It is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The first concrete proposal for establishing a framework for regional cooperation in
South Asia was made by the late president of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rahman, on May 2, 1980. Prior
to this, the idea of regional cooperation in South Asia was discussed in at least three
conferences: the Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi in April 1947, the Baguio
Conference in the Philippines in May 1950, and the Colombo Powers Conference in April 1954.
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
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 selective 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.
Principles
The principles are:
➢ Respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, political equality and independence of all
members states
➢ Non-interference in the internal matters is one of its objectives
➢ Cooperation for mutual benefit
➢ All decisions to be taken unanimously and need a quorum of all eight members
➢ All bilateral issues to be kept aside and only multilateral(involving many countries)
issues to be discussed without being prejudiced by bilateral issues
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. In April 2006, the
United States of America and South Korea made formal requests to be granted observer
status. The European Union has also indicated interest in being given observer status, and
made a formal request for the same to the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting in July 2006.
On 2 August 2006 the foreign ministers of the SAARC countries agreed in principle to grant
observer status to the US, South Korea and the European Union. On 4 March 2008, Iran
requested observer status. Followed shortly by the entrance of Mauritius.
Political issues
SAARC has intentionally laid more stress on "core issues" mentioned above rather than
more divisive political issues like the Kashmir dispute and the Sri Lankan civil war. However,
political dialogue is often conducted on the margins of SAARC meetings. SAARC has also
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 the
SAARC members to fight terrorism.
South Asian Free Trade Area
Over the years, the SAARC members have expressed their unwillingness on signing a
free trade agreement. Though India has several trade pacts with Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and
Sri Lanka, similar trade agreements with Pakistan and Bangladesh have been stalled due to
political and economic concerns on both sides. In 1993, SAARC countries signed an agreement
to gradually lower tariffs within the region, in Dhaka. Eleven years later, at the 12th SAARC
Summit at Islamabad, SAARC countries devised the South Asia Free Trade Agreement which
created a framework for the establishment of a free trade area covering 1.6 billion people.
This agreement went into force on January 1, 2006. Under this agreement, SAARC members
will bring their duties down to 20 per cent by 2009.