- शुक्रबार, १४ वैशाख, २०८१
Kathmandu, Dec. 8: The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) enters 29th year from today. SAARC was established with the objective of promoting regional cooperation among the countries of South Asia for the welfare of the people of the region.
Afghanistan is the newest member of this regional organization which originally had seven founding members. With its main objective of raising the living standards of the poor of the member countries, SAARC is focused on promoting co-work and mutual goodwill by giving continuity to the inter-government, the government to government and the people to people ties.
In a message of best wishes on the occasion of the Twenty-ninth SAARC Charter Day today, Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary-General of SAARC, has extended warm felicitations to the people and Governments of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Launched in December 1985, SAARC is the manifestation of the collective will of our Member States to promote regional cooperation and integration in order to promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life, he stated.
“While it is true that SAARC commenced with a few areas of regional cooperation in its initial stage, the ambit of engagement among its members continued to grow by every passing year. SAARC today caters to many diverse areas of regional cooperation pursued through a number of inter-governmental mechanisms and institutions. Indeed, SAARC has served as a common platform to address the common issues facing our region, thereby building mutual trust and confidence among one another. In addition, through its diverse activities over the past twenty-eight years, SAARC has been able to create a distinct South Asian identity” Secretary-General Saleem observed.
Noting that the Association has made notable achievements in many areas, there is a growing realization that more needs to be done to strengthen SAARC’s institutions to make the SAARC process more efficient, effective and result-oriented to realize the objectives of the Association, he said, “To this end, with the mandate from the Member States for the first time, the SAARC Secretariat has undertaken a comprehensive Study to streamline, rationalize, restructure and strengthen all the mechanisms and processes of SAARC, including the Secretariat, Regional Centers and SAARC Specialized Bodies (SSBs). With the implementation of several recommendations contained in the Study, I remain confident that the SAARC process will be revitalized for the common benefit of its membership.”
The Seventeenth SAARC Summit was held in Addu City of the Maldives in November 2011. The Summit was devoted to the theme, Building Bridges. Since then, a number of initiatives have been underway to promote intra-regional connectivity.
However, the non-convening of the meetings of the Charter Bodies of SAARC, namely, Standing Committee, Council of Ministers and Summit, has created a backlog of important decisions to be taken by the Association. Nevertheless, I am pleased that all the Member States have now confirmed their participation at the Inter-Summit Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers to be held in the Maldives from 17 to 20 February 2014. With the convening of this Session and the Eighteenth SAARC Summit, I remain confident that the SAARC process will be active as before.
As we mark the Twenty-ninth SAARC Charter Day today, let us recommit ourselves to strengthen SAARC in order to deliver tangible benefits to our peoples in the region, the SAARC Secretary General said in the message. RSS
