Question

Name the regional organisation of South Asian countries.

Hint:

SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) is the regional organization of 8 South Asian nations, established in 1985 with its headquarters in Kathmandu, Nepal .

Answer 1

Concept: Regional organizations provide structured frameworks for neighboring sovereign states to cooperate in areas of mutual interest such as trade, poverty alleviation, infrastructure, cultural exchange, and regional security.

Step 1: Identification of the regional body.
The official regional organization representing the nation-states of South Asia is the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) .

Step 2: Founding details and institutional structure.

• Establishment: SAARC was officially established on December 8, 1985 , with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• Headquarters: Its permanent Secretariat was set up in Kathmandu, Nepal , in January 1987.
• Member Nations: It was originally founded by 7 countries—India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives. Afghanistan was admitted as the 8th full member state during the 14th SAARC Summit in 2007.

Step 3: Objectives and initiatives.
SAARC was established to promote collective self-reliance, accelerate economic growth, and foster social progress across South Asia. A major achievement of the bloc was the signing of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement in 2004, designed to reduce customs tariffs and boost intra-regional trade among South Asian nations.