South Asian Association for

Regional Cooperation

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The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and
geopolitical union of nations in South Asia. Its member states
include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the
Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SAARC comprises 3% of
the world's area, 21% of the world's population and 3.8%
(US$2.9 trillion)[3] of the global economy, as of 2015.

SAARC was founded in Dhaka on 8 December 1985.[4] Its

secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The organization
promotes development of economic and regional
integration.[5] It launched the South Asian Free Trade Area in
2006.[6] SAARC maintains permanent
South Asian Association

diplomatic relations at the United for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)

Nations as an observer and has

developed links with multilateral
entities, including the European Union.

Historical background
The idea of co-operation in South Asia
was discussed in at least three
conferences: the Asian Relations
Conference held in New Delhi on April
1947; the Baguio Conference in the Bengali: দি ণ এশীয় আ িলক

Philippines on May 1950; and the

সহেযািগতা সং া

Colombo Powers Conference held in Sri Dari: ‫اﺗﺤﺎدﯾﻪ ﻫﻤﮑﺎریﻫﺎی ﻣﻨﻄﻘﻪای ﺟﻨﻮب‬

‫آﺳﯽ‬

Lanka in April 1954.[7]

Dzongkha: ༄ ོ ཨེ སིཨ་ རེ ་གི ཨ ོནལ་

ཅཨཔརཏིཨ ོན་ ཀ ོ་མི ་ཏི།

Hindi: द ण ए शयाई े ीय सहयोग

संगठन

Maldivian: ީ ‫ސ ަރ ަޙ ްއ‬
‫ދ‬ ަ ‫ޔ ެގ‬
ާ ި‫ނ އޭޝ‬
ު ‫ެދ ުކ‬

ާ ‫ިއ‬
‫ޔ‬ ް ‫ބ ުރ ުލ ުމ ެގ ަޖމ‬
ާ ‫ެއ ްއ‬

Nepali: द ण ए शयाली े ीय सहयोग

सङ् गठन
A clickable Euler diagram showing the Pashto: ‫د ﺳﻮﯾﻠﻲ اﺳﯿﺎ ﻟﭙﺎره د ﺳﯿﻤﻪ اﯾﺰی‬

relationships between various Asian regional ‫ﻫﻤﮑﺎرۍ ﻮﻟﻨﻪ‬

v•d•e

organisations
Sinhalese: Logo
ද ආ යා ක කලා ය

සහෙය තා සං ධානය

In the ending years of the 1970s, the Tamil: ெத காச ய நா களி

seven inner South Asian nations that ப ரா த ய டைம

included Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Urdu: ‫ﺟﻨﻮﺑﯽ اﯾﺸﯿﺎﺋﯽ ﻋﻼﻗﺎﺋﯽ ﺗﻌﺎون‬

‫ﮐﯽ ﺗﻨﻈﯿﻢ‬
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,  Memb
and understanding. President Ziaur er
Rahman later addressed official letters states
to the leaders of the countries of the  

South Asia, presenting his vision for the  Obser

ver
future of the region and the compelling
states
arguments for region.[8] During his visit Headquarters Kathma
to India in December 1977, Rahman Official languages En
discussed the issue of regional
Demonym(s) South
cooperation with the Indian Prime Asian
Minister, Morarji Desai. In the inaugural
Member 8 members
speech to the Colombo Plan
states
Consultative Committee which met in
Kathmandu also in 1977, King Birendra  Afghanis

of Nepal gave a call for close regional

 Banglade
cooperation among South Asian
 Bhutan
countries in sharing river waters.[9]
 India
After the USSR's intervention in  Maldive

Afghanistan, the efforts to establish the      Nepa

 Pakista
union was accelerated in 1979 and the
 Sri Lan
resulting rapid deterioration of South
Asian security situation.[9] Responding 9 observers
to Rahman and Birendra's convention,  Austral
the officials of the foreign ministries of  China
the seven countries met for the first  EU

time in Colombo in April 1981.[9] The  Iran

 Japan
Bangladeshi proposal was promptly
 Mauriti
endorsed by Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan,
 Myanm
and the Maldives but India and
 South
Pakistan were sceptical initially.[9] The
Korea
Indian concern was the proposal's  United
reference to the security matters in States
Leaders
South Asia and feared that Rahman's
proposal for a regional organisation • Secretary-
might provide an opportunity for new General Amjad

smaller neighbours to renationalise all Hussain

B. Sial[1]
bilateral issues and to join with each Establishment 8
other to form an opposition against Decem
India. Pakistan assumed that it might 1985

be an Indian strategy to organise the Area

other South Asian countries against • Total 5,099,611 km2
Pakistan and ensure a regional market (1,968,971 sq 
for Indian products, thereby (7th)
consolidating and further strengthening • Water (%) 6.8

Population
India's economic dominance in the • 2015 1,713,870

region.[9] estimate (1st)

• Density 336.1/km2
However, after a series of diplomatic (870.5/sq m

consultations headed by Bangladesh GDP (PPP) 2017 estim

between South Asian U.N. • Total US$11.64 trilli
representatives at the UN headquarters (3rd)
in New York, from September 1979 to
1980, it was agreed that Bangladesh GDP (nominal) 2017 e

would prepare the draft of a working

• Total US$
paper for discussion among the foreign 3.31 trillion[3]
secretaries of South Asian countries.[9] (5th)
The foreign secretaries of the inner Currency 8 currencie
seven countries again delegated a
Committee of the Whole in Colombo on Afghani (
September 1981, which identified five Taka
broad areas for regional cooperation. (৳) (BDT)

New areas of co-operation were added

Ngultrum
in the following years.[10]
Rupee
In 1983, the international conference (₹) (INR)

held in Dhaka by its Ministry of Foreign

Rufiyaa (
Affairs, the foreign ministers of the
inner seven countries adopted the
Declaration on South Asian Association Rupee
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and ( .) (NPR

formally launched the Integrated Rupee 

Programme of Action (IPA) initially in Time UTC+4:30Rupee 

to +6
zone (Afghanistan
five agreed areas of cooperation
Time(UTC+4:30
namely, Agriculture; Rural Development;
Pakistan
Telecommunications; Meteorology; and
Standard Time
Health and Population Activities.[11] (PST), Maldives
Time(both
Officially, the union was established in
UTC+5:00),
Dhaka with Kathmandu being union's Indian Standard
secretariat-general.[12] The first SAARC Time (IST), Sri
summit was held in Dhaka on 7–8 Lanka Standard

December 1985 and hosted by the Time (SLST)

(bothUTC+5:30)
President of Bangladesh Hussain
Nepal Standard
Ershad.[13] The declaration signed by
Time (NST)
King of Bhutan Jigme Singye
(UTC+5:45),
Wangchuk, President of Pakistan Zia-ul- Bangladesh
Haq, Prime Minister of India Rajiv Standard Time
Gandhi, King of Nepal Birendra Shah, (BST), Bhutan
President of Sri Lanka JR Jayewardene, Time
(bothUTC+6:00)
and President of Maldives Maumoon
Gayoom.[13]
Calling 8 codes
 code
Members and observers
 +880
Economic data is sourced from the  +91
International Monetary Fund, current as  +92
of April 2015, and is given in US  +93
dollars.[14]  +94

Members  +960

 +975

   +977
 Internet .asia[a]
TLD
Website
www.saarc-sec.org

GDP GDP Foreign Defense Literacy

Foreign
Population[15] GDP GDP per Growth Exports Direct Budget(% Rate(Given Li
Country Exchange
(2016) (Nominal) (PPP) Capita Rate (2018) Investment of GDP) Age & Expec
Reserves(million)
(PPP) (2018) (2018) (2014)[16] above)

28.1%(Age
34,656,032 $21.3 bn $63.5 bn $1,976 3.2% $0.3 bn N/A $6,442 N/A 6
 Afghanistan 15)

$285.815 $751.949 $3.2 57.7%(Age

162,951,560 $4,560 7.65% $37 bn $2.65 bn $32,000 7
 Bangladesh bn bn bn(1.2%) 15)

 Bhutan 797,765 $2.2 bn $6.3 bn $8,158 6.4% $0.7 bn $63 mln N/A N/A 52.8%(age 6
15)
 $2,439.0 $9,446.8 $464.0 $45 74.4%(age
 India 1,324,171,354 $7,174 7.3% $31.0 bn $422,532.5 6
bn bn bn bn(1.9%) 15)

$0.28 99%(age
427,756 $3.0 bn $5.2 bn $14,980 4.5% N/A $356 N/A 7
 Maldives bn 15)

66%(age
   Nepal 28,982,771 $21.6 bn $70.7 bn $2,488 5.5% $1.0 bn $10 mln $5,439 N/A 6
15)

$25.1 $0.709 $7.4 55%(age

193,203,476 $313 bn $1161.0bn $5,886 5.4% $16,305 6
 Pakistan bn bn(2014) bn(3.5%) 15)

 Sri $11.8 $1.4 98.1%(age

20,798,492 $80.4 bn $233.7 bn $11,068 7% $0.9 bn $8,314 7
Lanka bn bn(2.3%) 15)

The member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,

India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.[20]
SAARC was founded by seven states in 1985. In 2005,
Afghanistan began negotiating their accession to SAARC and
formally applied for membership on the same year.[21][22] 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 a
Central Asian country.[23]

The SAARC member states imposed a stipulation for

Afghanistan to hold a general election; the non-partisan
elections were held in late 2005.[23] Despite initial reluctance
and internal debates, Afghanistan joined SAARC as its eighth
member state in April 2007.[23][24]

Observers

States with observer status include[25] Australia,[26] China, the

European Union,[27] Iran, Japan,[27] Mauritius,[28] Myanmar,
South Korea and the United States.[29]

On 2 August 2006, the foreign ministers of the SAARC

countries agreed in principle to grant observer status to three
applicants;[30] the US and South Korea (both made requests in
April 2006),[30] as well as the European Union (requested in
July 2006).[31] On 4 March 2007, Iran requested observer
status,[32] followed shortly by Mauritius.

Potential future members

Myanmar has expressed interest in upgrading its status from

an observer to a full member of SAARC.[33] Russia has applied
for observer status membership of SAARC.[34][35][36] Turkey
applied for observer status membership of SAARC in
2012.[34][35][36] South Africa has participated in meetings.[37]
Secretariat

Secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in

Kathmandu, Nepal

The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16

January 1987 and was inaugurated by Late King Birendra Bir
Bikram Shah of Nepal.[38]
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.[39]

Regional Centre Location Country Website

SAARC Agricultural Centre (SAC) Dhaka Bangladesh Official website

SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC) Dhaka Bangladesh

SAARC Forestry Centre (SFC) Thimphu Bhutan

SAARC Development Fund (SDF) Thimphu Bhutan Official website

SAARC Documentation Centre (SDC) New Delhi India

SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC) Gandhinagar India Official website

SAARC Coastal Zone Management Centre (SCZMC) Malé Maldives

SAARC Information Centre (SIC) Kathmandu Nepal

SAARC Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre (STAC) Kathmandu Nepal Official website

SAARC Human Resources Development Centre (SHRDC) Islamabad Pakistan

SAARC Energy Centre (SEC) Islamabad Pakistan Official website

SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC) Colombo Sri Lanka Official website

Apex and Recognised Bodies

SAARC has six Apex Bodies,[40] they are-

SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI),

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in
Law(SAARCLAW),[41]
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)
Amjad Hussain B. Sial is the current Secretary General of
SAARC.

SAARC also has about 17 recognised bodies.[40]

SAARC Disaster Management Centre

South Asia Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
Disaster Management Centre (SDMC-IU) has been set up at
Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GIDM) Campus,
Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. Eight Member States, i.e.
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka are expected to be served by the
SDMC (IU). The SDMC (IU) is entrusted with the responsibility
to serve Member States by providing policy advice, technical
support on system development, capacity building services
and training for holistic management of disaster risk in the
SAARC region. The centre also facilitates exchange of
information and expertise for effective and efficient
management of disaster risk.

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.[42] During the 12th and
13th SAARC summits, extreme emphasis was laid upon
greater cooperation between the SAARC members to fight
terrorism.[43][44]

The 19th SAARC summit scheduled to be held in Pakistan

was called off as India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan
decided to boycott it.[45][46] It was for the first time that four
countries boycotted a SAARC summit, leading to its
cancellation.[47][48]

South Asian Free Trade Area

Countries under the South Asian Free Trade Area

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 realisation 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 Liberalisation 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.[49] In 2012 the SAARC exports increased
substantially to US$354.6 billion from US$206.7 billion in
2009. Imports too increased from US$330 billion to US$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.

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. The 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.[50]

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%.[51][52]

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.[53]

Awards
SAARC Award

The Twelfth Summit approved the SAARC Award to support

individuals and organisations within the region. The main
aims of the SAARC Award are:
To encourage individuals and organisations based in South
Asia to undertake programmes and activities that
complement the efforts of SAARC
To encourage individuals and organisations in South Asia
contributing to bettering the conditions of women and
children
To honour outstanding contributions and achievements of
individuals and organisations 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 organisations in the
region.

The SAARC Award consists of a gold medal, a letter of

citation, and cash prize of US$25,000 (₹15 lakhs). 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.[54]

SAARC Literary Award

Recipients of SAARC Literary Award 2013

The SAARC Literary Award is an annual award conferred by

the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL)
since 2001[55][56] which is an apex SAARC body.[57] Shamshur
Rahman, Mahasweta Devi, Jayanta Mahapatra, Abhi Subedi,
Mark Tully, Sitakant Mahapatra, Uday Prakash, Suman Pokhrel
and Abhay K are some of the prominent recipients of this
award.[58]

Nepali poet, lyricist, and translator Suman Pokhrel is the only

poet/writer to get this award twice.[59]

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 recognises 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.[60]

Previous Winners:
1997: Outstanding Social Service in Community Welfare –
Mohammed 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 – Uswatta
Liyanage 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)
Anthem
SAARC does not have an official anthem like some other
regional organisations (e.g. ASEAN).[61] A poem by poet-
diplomat Abhay Kumar spurred a search for a better SAARC
anthem.[62] Nepal's foreign minister has expressed the need
for an SAARC anthem to connect SAARC nations.[63] Nepal at
the 18th summit in Kathmandu in November 2014 planned to
introduce proposal for an SAARC Anthem in the agenda of
summit when heads of all member states meet here.[61]

Secretaries-General of SAARC
# Name Country Took office Left office

1 Abul Ahsan  Bangladesh 16 January 1985 15 October 1989

2 Kant Kishore Bhargava  India 17 October 1989 31 December 1991

3 Ibrahim Hussein Zaki  Maldives 1 January 1992 31 December 1993

4 Yadav Kant Silwal    Nepal 1 January 1994 31 December 1995

5 Naeem U. Hasan  Pakistan 1 January 1996 31 December 1998

6 Nihal Rodrigo  Sri Lanka 1 January 1999 10 January 2002

7 Q. A. M. A. Rahim  Bangladesh 11 January 2002 28 February 2005

8 Chenkyab Dorji  Bhutan 1 March 2005 29 February 2008

9 Sheel Kant Sharma  India 1 March 2008 28 February 2011

10 Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed  Maldives 1 March 2011 11 March 2012

11 Ahmed Saleem  Maldives 12 March 2012 28 February 2014

12 Arjun Bahadur Thapa    Nepal 1 March 2014 28 February 2017

13 Amjad Hussain B. Sial  Pakistan 1 March 2017 Incumbent

SAARC summits
No Date Country Host Host leader

1st 7–8 December 1985 Bangladesh Dhaka Ataur Rahman Khan

2nd 16–17 November 1986 India Bengaluru Rajiv Gandhi

3rd 2–4 November 1987 Nepal Kathmandu King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah

4th 29–31 December 1988 Pakistan Islamabad Benazir Bhutto

5th 21–23 November 1990 Maldives Malé Maumoon Abdul Gayoom

6th 21 December 1991 Sri Lanka Colombo Ranasinghe Premadasa

7th 10–11 April 1993 Bangladesh Dhaka Khaleda Zia

8th 2–4 May 1995 India New Delhi P V Narasimha Rao

9th 12–14 May 1997 Maldives Malé Maumoon Abdul Gayoom

10th 29–31 July 1998 Sri Lanka Colombo Chandrika Kumaratunga

11th 4–6 January 2002 Nepal Kathmandu Sher Bahadur Deuba

12th 2–6 January 2004 Pakistan Islamabad Zafarullah Khan Jamali

13th 12–13 November 2005 Bangladesh Dhaka Khaleda Zia

14th 3–4 April 2007 India New Delhi Manmohan Singh

15th 1–3 August 2008 Sri Lanka Colombo Mahinda Rajapaksa

16th 28–29 April 2010 Bhutan Thimphu Jigme Thinley

17th 10–11 November 2011 Maldives Addu Mohammed Nasheed

18th 26–27 November 2014[64] Nepal Kathmandu Sushil Koirala

19th 9–10 November 2016 Pakistan Islamabad Cancelled

20th 2019 Sri Lanka Colombo Maithripala Sirisena

Current leaders of SAARC
 Bhutan India
Afghanista Banglades Prime Prime Maldives
n h Minister Minister President
President Prime Lotay Narendra Ibrahim
Ashraf Minister Tshering Modi Mohamed
Ghani Sheikh Solih
Hasina
 Nepal Sri Pakistan
Prime Lanka Prime
Minister President Minister
Khadga Maithripal Imran
Prasad Oli a Sirisena Khan
Current leaders
Country President / Head of State Prime Minister

Abdullah Abdullah
Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani
(CEO)

Bangladesh Abdul Hamid Sheikh Hasina

Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck Lotay Tshering

India Ram Nath Kovind Narendra Modi

Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih

Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari Khadga Prasad Oli

Pakistan Arif Alvi Imran Khan

Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena Ranil Wickremesinghe

See also
ASEAN and India's Look-East connectivity projects
Asia Cooperation Dialogue
SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Initiative
BIMSTEC
Indian-Ocean Rim Association
List of SAARC summits
Mekong–Ganga Cooperation
SAARC satellite
South Asian University
South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation
Director of SAARC
Notes
a. .asia is representative of all of Asia; member states also have
their own TLDs.

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10. "A Brief on SAARC." South Asian Association for Regional
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