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SAARC

BY : JitenderSailendra Maharajan

India Bhutan Pakistan

Sri Lanka

Bangladesh

NepalMaldives Afghanistan

INTRODUCTION

SAARC is an economic and political organization.

SAARC was established on December 8, 1985.

In terms of population - almost 2 billion people.

It aims to accelerate the process of economic and social development in Member States.

SAARC provides a platform for the peoples of South Asia to work together in the spirit understanding.

In April 2007, at the Association's 14th summit, Afghanistan became its eighth member.

Objectives To promote the welfare of the people To accelerate economic growth, social progress and

cultural development To promote and strengthen collective self-reliance To contribute to mutual trust, understand and

appreciation of one another's problem; To promote active collaboration and mutual

assistance To strengthen cooperation with other developing

countries; To strengthen cooperation among themselves To cooperate with international and regional

organisations with similar aims and purposes.

Principles of SAARCThe principles are as follows: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 issues to be discussed without being prejudiced by bilateral issues.

Secretariat The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on

16 January 1987 and was inaugurated by Late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal

IPA (Integrated Programme of Action)

The Declaration on South Asian Regional Cooperation was adopted by the Foreign Ministers in 1983 in New Delhi. During the meeting, the Ministers also launched the Integrated Programme of Action (IPA) in nine agreed areas namely:-

Agriculture Rural Development Telecommunications Meteorology Health and Population Activities Transport Postal Services Science and Technology Sports, Arts and Culture

List of SAARC summits ¤ 1st Saarc Summit (Dhaka, December 8, 1985) ¤ 2nd Saarc Summit (Bangalore, November 17, 1986) ¤ 3rd Saarc Summit (Katmandu, November 4, 1987) ¤ 4th Saarc Summit (Islamabad, December 31, 1988) ¤ 5th Saarc Summit (Male', November 23, 1990) ¤ 6th Saarc Summit (Colombo, December 21, 1991) ¤ 7th Saarc Summit (Dhaka, April 11, 1993) ¤ 8th Saarc Summit (New Delhi, May 4, 1995) ¤ 9th Saarc Summit (Male', May 14, 1997) ¤ 10th Saarc Summit (Colombo, July 31, 1998) ¤ 11th Saarc Summit (Katmandu, January 6, 2002) ¤ 12th Saarc Summit (Islamabad, January 6, 2004) ¤ 13th Saarc Summit (Dhaka, November 13,2005) ¤ 14th Saarc Summit (New Delhi, April 3-4,2007) ¤ 15th Saarc Summit (Colombo, July 27 – August 4,2008) ¤ 16th Saarc Summit ( Thimpu , 28 April – 29 April ,2010) ¤ 17th Saarc Summit ( Maldives , Nov. 10 – Nov. 11 , 2011) ¤ 18th Saarc Summit ( Kathmandu , Nov. 26 – Nov. 27 , 2014 ) ¤ 19th Saarc Summit Pakistan

SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement)

The Agreement on the South Asian Free Trade Area is an agreement reached at the 12th SAARC summit at Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on 6 January 2004.

Free trade area covering at least 2 billion people in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives

This agreement went into force on 1st January 2006. Under this agreement , SAARC members had to bring their duties down to 20 per cent by 2007.

Observer Status In April 2006, the United States of America and South

Korea made formal requests to be granted observer status.

The European Union 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 August 2, 2006 the foreign ministers of the SAARC countries agreed in principle to grant observer status to the US, South Korea and the European Union

European Union (EU) and SAARC

In 1999, EU and SAARC agree to cooperate on improving market access for SAARC products into EU.

The EU is observer in SAARC since 2006. EU is convinced that SAARC could play a useful role

in regional co-operation and dialogue.

FUTURE MEMBERSHIP The People's Republic of China The Islamic Republic of Iran The Russian Federation Union of Myanmar The Republic of South Africa