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SAARCSouth Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

Prepared By:Arslan AhmedAtif AlviAli KhanZahid MehmoodAli RahmanAneeqa EjazINTRODUCTIONSAARC is an eco-political organization of8 South Asian nations, which was established on 8 December 1985for friendship and cooperation among themselves and with other developing countries.

Covering a population of more than 2 billion, SAARC is the largest regional organization in the world.

HISTORY

Idea of regional cooperation in South Asia was discussed in atleast three conferences:1-theAsians Relations Conferencein New Delhiin April 19472-theBaguio Conferencein the Philippinesin May 1950,3-theColombo Powers Conferencein April 1954

The first concrete proposal for establishing a framework for regional cooperation in South Asia was made by the late president of Bangladesh,Zia-ur-Rehman, on May 2, 1980.

Established on 8 December 1985.

Its seven founding members areSri Lanka, Bhutan,India,Maldives,Nepal,Pakistan, andBangladesh.

PRINCIPLESRespect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, political equality and independence of all members states.

Non-interference in the internal matters.

Cooperation for mutual benefit.

All decisions to be taken unanimously.

All bilateral issues to be kept aside and only multilateral issues to be discussed.

AIMS and OBJECTIVESWelfare of the people of south Asia.

Economic growth, social progress and cultural development.

Strengthen selective self-reliance among the countries of south Asia.

Understanding and appreciation of one another's problems.

Strengthen cooperation among themselves as well as with other developing countries and international and regional organizations

Maintain peace in the region.

Members AND OBSERVERS of SAARC

CURRENT MEMBERS

Afghanistan (joined the organization in 2007)BangladeshBhutanIndiaMaldivesNepalPakistanSri Lanka

OBSERVERS

AustraliaChinaEuropean UnionJapanIranMauritiusMyanmarS. KoreaUSA

POTENTIAL FUTURE MEMBERS

Myanmarhas expressed interest in upgrading it's status from an observer to a full member of SAARC.

Russia has expressed interest in becoming an observer of SAARC.

OTHERS

South Africa has participated in meetings.

Organizational Structure of SAARCCOUNCILAt the top, there is the Council represented by the heads of the government of the member countries. The council is the apex policy making body. It meets once in 2 years time.COUNCIL OF MINISTERS** It is to assist the council. It is represented by the foreign ministers of the member countries. Its functions include:

Formulation of policies

Review of functioning

Deciding new areas of cooperation

Chalk out additional mechanism

Decide about general issues of common interests of the SAARC members.

STANDING COMMITTEE** It is comprised by the foreign secretarian of the member government. Its major functions are:

To monitor and co-ordinate the programmes

To determine inter-sectored priorities

To mobilize cooperation within and outside the region

To deal with the modalities of financing.PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE** It consist of the senior official of the member governments. Its functions include:

Scrutinizing the budget of the secretariat

Finalizing the annual schedule

External activities assigned by the standing Committee

Analyses the respects of the technical committee.TECHNICAL COMMITTEE**It consist of the represented of the member nations. Its function are:

To formulate project and programmes

To monitor and execute the projects

To submit reports.

Cover Areas like Agriculture, Communication, Environment, Rural Development, Health and Population, Science and Technology, Tourism and TransportSECRETARIAT** The SAARC secretariat is located in Nepal. The secretariat is headed by the secretary-General appointed by the Council of Ministers. Its function include:

Coordination, execution and monitoring of SAARC activities

Servicing the SAARC meetings

Works as communication link between the SAARC and other international forums.

SAARCAreas of CooperationAgriculture & Biotechnology

Trade & Finance

Education

Information , Communication & Media

Science & Technology

Energy & Environment

Tourism & Social Development

Culture

People-to-People Contacts

Trade & FinanceThe acceleration of economic growth is a Charter objective of SAARC. Corporation in core areas of trade and finance b/w the SAARC members in 1991.

The following important processes of SAARC are promoting cooperation in the field of Trade, Economy and Finance

Customs Cooperation

South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) (Custom Duties down to 20%)

SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA)

POLITICAL ISSUES The dispute over Kashmirs accession to India has been standing in the way of the lasting peace and prosperity of the Indian subcontinent as well as SAARC.Agreements,Declarations

ANDConventions

ofsaarcAGGREMENTSAgreement for establishment of SAARC Arbitration Council

Final Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation

Final Agreement on Customs Matters

CHARTER OF SDF 31 July 2008

Agreement on establishing the SAARC food bank

Agreement on south Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA)

Agreement on the Establishment of South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO) Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation

DECLARATIONSMinisterial Declaration on Global Economic Crisis

Colombo Statement on Children of South Asia

Declaration on Cooperation in Combating Terrorism

Islamabad Declaration on Health, 2005

Colombo Declaration on a Common Environment Program

Common Position on Climate Change, Nov. 1998

Rawalpindi Resolution on Children of South Asia, Aug. 1996

New Delhi Declaration of Environment Ministers, Apr, 1997

Declaration of Commerce MinistersMay 1998

CONVENTIONSSAARC Convention on Combating and Prevention of Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution

The purpose of this Convention is to effectively deal with the various aspects of prevention and suppression of trafficking in women and children and to prevent the use of women and children prostitution networks.

Convention on Promotion of Welfare of Children

The purpose of this Convention is to promote cooperation amongst Member States so that they take effective steps for the welfare of children.

Convention on Mutual Assistance on Criminal Matters and Suppression of Terrorism

The States Parties shall provide widest possible measures of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, namely investigations, prosecution and resulting proceedings.

SAARC Convention Narcotics Drugs

Important steps have been taken to enforce the provisions of the Regional Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

SUMMITSANDMEETINGSSUMMITS1st Summit (Dec 1985):Venue: DhakaReaffirmation of the UN Charter and respect for each others sovereignty.Concern over the global economic crisis.Declaration of belief in the objectives and the continued relevance of the Non Aligned Movement.Expression of concern over the poverty in the SAARC region and commitment to improving social and economic conditions2nd Summit (1986):Venue: BangaloreRehash of the goals and statements of the first summit.Strengthening of ties between member states.Condemned terrorism.

3rd Summit (1987):Venue: KathmanduDecision to initiate study of natural disasters and its after-effects.Expression of satisfaction over progress in implementation of IPA.Call for increased people to people contact and greater NGOs participation.

4th Summit (1988)Venue: IslamabadExpression of outrage over attempted coup in Maldives and declaration of support to her government.1989 declared as the SAARC Year Against Drug Abuse.1990 declared as the "SAARC Year of the Girl Child".Launch of "SAARC-2000-A Basic Needs Perspective".

5th Summit (1990):Venue: MaleDecision to build the SAARC Tuberculosis Centre and the SAARC Documentation Centre in Bangladesh and India respectively.Declaration of the period 1991-2000 as the Decade of the girl child.

6th Summit (1991):Venue: Colombo.Decision to establish an independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation.Approval for the Inter Governmental Group to be set up.

7th Summit (1993):Venue: DhakaCommitment to end poverty in South Asia by 2002 through a set of strategies known as the Agenda of Actions.Appreciation for the first ever South Asian festival of SAARC Countries held in 1992. The festival promoted culture.

8th Summit (1995):Venue: Delhi1994 marked as the SAARC Year of Youth.1996 marked as the SAARC Year of Literacy.

9th Summit (1997):Venue: Male1997 designated the "SAARC Year of Participatory Governance" .Agreement to study the social compulsions that lead to child labour.10th Summit (1998):Venue: ColomboDecision to setup a committee of experts to aide in the formulation of SAFTA.Directive for the formulation of SAARCs social charter issued.11th Summit (2002):Venue: Kathmandu12th Summit (2004):Venue: Islamabad13th Summit (2005):Venue: Dhaka2006-2015 declared as the Decade of Poverty Alleviation.Agreements signed related to customs assistance, arbitration and tax assistance.

14th Summit (2007):Venue: DehliSAARC Agenda for Culture launched.South Asian university to be established in India.

15th Summit (2008):Venue: Colombo.

16th Summit(2010):Venue: ThimpuAgreement to form the South Asia Forum.17th Summit (2011):Venue: Addu CittyDeclarations and endorsements.

MINISTERIAL MEETINGSMeetings held between the ministers of member states of various portfolios.More than 30 such meetings have been held.Rawalpindi Resolution:August 1996Related to the issue of children rights.Declaration of safeguarding of rights of children to an education plus curbing child labor.

Environment Ministers meeting:April 1997Reaffirmation of goals of international conventions.Proposal for environmental safeguarding of South Asian seas.

Commerce Ministers Meeting:May 1998.Held in Geneva right after the WTO ministerial meeting.Joint statement demanding the rights of developing nations.

Islamabad Declaration:July 2005Related to health issues.Agreement to setup Expert Group on Population to aide sharing of expertise and experience related to population issues.Emphasis laid on achieving the MDGs and on allocating a larger share of GDP on health related matters.

Cooperation in Counter Terrorism:Colombo 2009.Ratification and implementation of SAARC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.Establishment of High Level Group of Eminent Experts.SuccessesandFailures ECONOMIC ACHIEVEMENTSSAPTA(SAARC preferential trading arrangement)was signed on 7 December, 1995

SAFTA(South Asian Free Trade Area) was signed in Islamabad in January 2004

SAARC chamber of commerce and industry (SCCI)

SAARC constitutes South Asian Development Fund(SADF)

Signed an agreement of mutual assistance.

Avoidance of double taxation were signed.INTEGRATED PROGRAMME OF ACTION (IPA) AgricultureRural development Science and technology Health Transport Sports Arts Culture and Population activitiesLITERACY AND EDUCATIONTill 2013 going to establish a common university for education in Delhi

POVERTY ALLEVIATION

Regional food security essence

Promoted global objective of shelter for all.

TERRORISM AND DRUG TRAFFICKING

Convention on terrorism was signed in November,1987

SAARC convention on narcotic drugs signed on November, 1990

SAARC terrorist offences monitoring desk(STOMD)

SAARC drug offences monitoring desk(SDOMD)

PEOPLE TO PEOPLE CONTACTSAVE (SARRC Audio Visual Exchange) was implemented.

Library of SAARC

Talks between countries leads to the diffusion of tensionFALIURES OF SAARC India tries to dominate the function and activities of SAARC

Large variety of different political system

Large variety regional and cultural differences

They lack financial resources and advance technologies

Involvement of external actors Internal problems constituting social economic and developmental and growth issues.

Bilateral disputes and differences

Food Security Reserve failed to meet the need of Bangladesh

Suffers from an acute resource crunch