The secretary-general of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is head of the SAARC Secretariat, which is headquartered in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, Nepal. SAARC is an

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

and

geopolitical Geopolitics () is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international relations. Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of states: ''de facto'' independen ...

union between the eight

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

member nations, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The secretary-general is appointed for a three-year term by election by a council of ministers from member states. The secretary-general is assisted by eight deputies, one from each nation, who also reside in

. SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987 by

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

diplomat Abul Ahsan, who was its first secretary-general, and was inaugurated by King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal. Since its creation, its member nations have contributed to a total of fourteenth general secretaries. Golam Sarwar from Bangladesh is the current secretary-general of SAARC, having assumed charge on 4 March 2023. Since the secretary general is selected from the member countries of SAARC in alphabetical order, it was Afghanistan's turn after Sri Lanka. But as the Afghanistan has been ruling by Taliban and international community does not recognize the Taliban as the authentic government, Afghanistan's turn has been skipped for this time and the next heir to the post of the secretary general of the organization in alphabetical order has been selected the diplomat from Bangladesh. SAARC Secretariat at Kathmandu

Residence

The SAARC Secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. It coordinates and monitors the implementation of activities, hosts meetings, and serves as a channel of communication between the association and its member states as well as other regional organizations. The secretary-general is assisted by eight directors on deputation from the member states, and SAARC Secretariat includes officials from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Regional centres

The SAARC Secretariat is supported by the following regional centers established in member states to promote regional co-operation. These centers are managed by governing boards composed of representatives from all the member states, the SAARC Secretariat and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the host government. The director of the center acts as member secretary to the Governing Board, which reports to the Programming Committee. * SAARC Agricultural Centre (SAC), Dhaka, Bangladesh * SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC), Dhaka, Bangladesh * SAARC Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre (STAC), Kathmandu, Nepal * SAARC Documentation Centre (SDC), New Delhi, India * SAARC Human Resources Development Centre (SHRDC), Islamabad, Pakistan * SAARC Coastal Zone Management Centre (SCZMC), Maldives * SAARC Information Centre (SIC), Nepal * SAARC Energy Centre (SEC), Pakistan * SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC),

Gandhinagar Gandhinagar () is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the industrial corridor between the megacities of Delhi and Mumbai. Gandhinagar ...

, Gujarat, India * SAARC Development Fund (SDF), Bhutan * SAARC Forestry Centre (SFC), Bhutan * SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC), Sri Lanka

History

There have been 12 democratically elected holders of the office of secretary-general of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Bangladesh held the first summit in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, where the

diplomat, Abul Ahsan was elected its first secretary-general. Since then, 11 more general secretaries have been selected from each member nation, so far except for Afghanistan.

Secretaries general

References

{{SAARC Secretaries-General Secretaries General *

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, ...

Lists of office-holders