For the UPSC exam, it is an important event for the people of the country to learn about the changes made by the government to help different sectors of the population, particularly how the government is growing the nation’s economy. It is also critical for the government to keep its promises to the citizens and to work efficiently to contribute to the nation’s progress.

Read this post to get some UPSC notes on SAARC UPSC topic.

SAARC UPSC

SAARC, which stands for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, is an international organisation that promotes economic and regional integration in South Asia. It provides a forum for South Asian peoples to collaborate in an atmosphere of friendliness, trust, and understanding.

It aspires to promote the welfare of South Asian peoples and enhance the quality of life in the area through increased economic growth, social improvement, and cultural development.

During the 15th Summit, the Heads of State or Government emphasised the importance of moving forwards through direct connections of continuity between current work and future activities, and they recognised the need for SAARC to sharpen its emphasis on making and implementing regional and sub-regional projects in the consented areas on an urgent basis.

They also reaffirmed their commitment to joint regional efforts to promote economic growth, social improvement, and cultural development, while emphasizing crucial challenges.

History

The concept of South Asian regional cooperation was initially proposed in May 1980. In April 1981, the Foreign Secretaries of the 7 countries convened for the first time in Colombo.

In August 1981, the Council of the Whole convened in Colombo and established five main areas for regional cooperation. In the years that followed, other areas of collaboration were added.

This organization was founded on December 8, 1985, when the leaders of the state or government of Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka formally accepted its Charter.

Afghanistan joined SAARC in April 2007 at the 14th SAARC Summit in Delhi, India. Until 2009, the Republic of Korea, the United States, Iran, China, Japan, Mauritius, Australia, Myanmar, and the European Union served as observers to SAARC.

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Overview

SAARC Established in

1985 (December 8), Dhaka (Bangladesh)

Official site: https://www.saarc-sec.org/

Number of Member Countries in SAARC

8 Countries – India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Pakistan.

Number of Observers in SAARC

9 Observers – Australia, European Union (E.U), Iran, Japan, Mauritius, South Korea, United States of America (USA), China, Myanmar.

SAARC Headquarters

Kathmandu, Nepal

Launch of SAARC Satellite for South Asia

2017

SAARC Specialized Bodies

  1. South Asian University (SAU) – India
  2. South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO) – Dhaka
  3. SAARC Development Fund (SDF) – Bhutan
  4. SAARC Arbitration Council (SARCO) – Pakistan

1st Secretary General of SAARC

Abul Ahsan (Bangladesh)

Current Secretary-General of SAARC

Esala Ruwan Weerakoon (Sri Lanka) – Took office from 1st March 2020.

Last Member to Join SAARC

Afghanistan (April 2007)

Last SAARC Summit

19th SAARC Summit in Pakistan (Cancelled)

Key Points for UPSC Preparation

# This organisation was established in 1985 by 7 states.

# Afghanistan requested participation in SAARC in 2005 and officially applied for membership the following year.

# This organization was founded on December 8, 1985, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and its secretariat is situated in Kathmandu, Nepal.

# Potential Future Members – Turkey and Russia have both applied to join.

# It is made up of eight member countries and nine observer countries

Member States

# Afghanistan

# Bangladesh

# Bhutan

# India

# Maldives

# Nepal

# Pakistan

# Sri Lanka

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Observer States

# Australia

# China

# European union

# Iran

# Japan

# Mauritius

# The United States

# Myanmar

# Republic of Korea

Areas of Cooperation

# Human Resource Development and Tourism

# Agriculture and Rural Development

# Environment, Natural Disasters and Biotechnology

# Economic, Trade and Finance

# Social Affairs

# Information and Poverty Alleviation

# Energy, Transport, Science and Technology

# Education, Security and Culture and Others

Objectives of the SAARC

# To promote the well-being of South Asians and to improve their standard of living.

# Accelerate regional economic growth, human reform, and cultural development, as well as give all individuals the opportunity to live with dignity and reach their full potential.

# To encourage and strengthen South Asian countries’ collective self-reliance.

# To help build mutual trust, empathy, and appreciation for one another’s concerns.

# To encourage active collaboration and mutual aid in the economic, social, cultural, technological, and scientific spheres.

# To improve collaboration with other emerging countries.

# To strengthen their cooperation in international forums on issues of mutual importance; and

# Cooperation with international and regional groups that have comparable goals and objectives.

Conclusion

Simply reading these notes meticulously and referring entirely to the sources of study listed above can help you prepare for the UPSC exam. To gain the necessary knowledge, remember important facts, and compose expected answers on your exam day, you must make these guidelines a daily practice.

Visit UPSC Pathshala for more UPSC topics like this.

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Shilpa is a professional web content writer and is in deep love with travelling. She completed her mass communication degree and is now dedicatedly playing with words to guide her readers to get the best for themselves. Developing educational content for UPSC, IELTS aspirants from breakthrough research work is her forte. Strongly driven by her zodiac sign Sagittarius, Shilpa loves to live her life on her own notes and completely agrees with the idea of ‘live and let live. Apart from writing and travelling, most of the time she can be seen in the avatar of 'hooman' mom to her pets and street dogs or else you can also catch her wearing the toque blanche and creating magic in the kitchen on weekends.

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