Council of Ministers

Comprising the Foreign Ministers of Member States, the Council of Ministers is responsible for formulating policies, reviewing progress, deciding on new areas of cooperation, establishing additional mechanisms as deemed necessary, and deciding on other matters of general interest to the Association. The Council meets normally twice a year and may also meet in extraordinary sessions by agreement of Member States.

Standing Committee

The Standing Committee comprising the Foreign Secretaries of Member States is entrusted with the task of overall monitoring and coordination of programs, approving of projects and programs, and modalities of financing, determining inter-sectoral priorities, mobilizing regional and external resources, and identifying new areas of cooperation. Usually this Committee meets twice a year preceding the Council of Ministers and submits its reports to the Council of Ministers. It may also meet in special session as and when necessary by agreement among Member States.

The Standing Committee is authorized to set up Action Committees comprising Member States concerned with implementation of projects involving more than two but less than seven Member States. (Article VII of the SAARC Charter).

Programming Committee

The Programming Committee (which is not a SAARC Charter body) comprises senior officials of member States. It assists the Standing Committee in scrutinizing the Secretariat Budget, considers the reports of the Technical Committees, SAARC Audio Visual Exchange (SAVE) Committee, and Regional Centres finalizing, and the Calendar of Activities.

Technical Committees

The SAARC Technical Committees are responsible for determination of the potential and the scope of regional cooperation in agreed areas, formulation of programmes and preparation of projects, determination of financial implications of sectoral programmes, formulation of recommendations regarding apportionment of costs, implementation and coordination of sectoral programmes, and monitoring of progress in implementation.

Working Groups

In addition to the Technical Committees, various Working Groups are established to consider specific issues and make recommendations to the appropriate SAARC bodies. Currently five Working Groups are established in the areas of Telecommunications and ICT, Biotechnology, Intellectual Property Rights and tourism. 

SAARC Secretariat 

The SAARC Secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Secretariat coordinates and monitors implementation of activities, prepares and services meetings, and serves as a channel of communication between the Association and its Member States as well as other regional organizations.

The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary General, who is appointed by the Council of Ministers from member countries in alphabetical order for a three-year term. Dr. Sheel Kanta Sharma from India currently serves as the Secretary General of SAARC. The Secretary General is assisted by Directors on deputation from Member States.

Committee on Economic Cooperation

The Committee of Economic Cooperation consists of Secretaries of Commerce of member states and it promotes regional cooperation in the economic field.

The Agreement on SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) was signed in Dhaka during the 7th SAARC Summit, in1993. It aimes to promote and sustain mutual trade and the economic cooperation among the South Asian States, through exchanging concessions.

Later, with the broad objective of moving towards a South Asian Economic Union (SAEU), the SAARC Member States signed the Agreement on SAARC Free Trade Area (SAFTA) on 6 January 2004 at the 12th SAARC Summit held in Islamabad and came into force on 1 January 2006. SAFTA has six core elements covering trade liberalization programme, rules of origin, institutional arrangements, safeguard measures, special and differential treatment for least developed countries (LDCs), and dispute settlement mechanisms.

SAARC Summits since inception

1	Dhaka	Bangladesh	7-8 December  1985
2	Bangalore	India	16-17 November 1986
3	Katmandu	Nepal	2-4 Novemeber 1987
4	Islamabad	Pakistan	29-31 December 1988
5	Male	Maldives	21-23 November 1990
6	Colombo	Sri Lanka	21 December 1991
7	Dhaka	Bangladesh	10-11 April 1993
8	New Delhi	India	2-4 May 1995
9	Male	Maldives	12-14 May 1997
10	Colombo	Sri Lanka	29-31 July 1998
11	Katmandu	Nepal	4-6 January 2002
12	Islamabad	Pakistan	2-6 January 2004
13	Dhaka	Bangladesh	12-13 November 2005
14	New Delhi	India	3-4 April 2007

 

SAARC Social Charter

The signing of the Social Charter by the Heads of State/ Government at the 12th SAARC Summit held in Islamabad in 2004, has been a major development in SAARC. The Social Charter aims at promoting the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and accelerating economic growth and social progress through poverty alleviation, improving health conditions of peoples, human resource development, empowerment of women, and providing welfare to the children. Although the Social Charter is not a binding document, it underpins the SAARC Charter objective of 'providing all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realize their full potentials'.

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