SAARC Full Form
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
What does SAARC stand for? A international term, explained.
SAARC Full Form in English, letter by letter
SAARC is the regional organisation of eight South Asian countries, founded in 1985, with its secretariat in Kathmandu.
SAARC Full Form in Indian Languages
The name South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is long, so everyone says SAARC. Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Gujarati forms are given below for students and exam candidates.
Dhaka, 1985: how SAARC began
Seven countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) signed the SAARC charter in Dhaka in December 1985. The idea came from Bangladesh's President Ziaur Rahman in the early 1980s.
Afghanistan became the eighth member in April 2007, at the New Delhi summit. The secretariat, set up in 1987, is in Kathmandu, Nepal, headed by a Secretary-General who rotates among members in alphabetical order.
The charter bars bilateral disputes from SAARC meetings, a rule intended to keep India-Pakistan tension from paralysing the group. In practice it also kept SAARC away from sensitive issues.
The 8 December date is observed as SAARC Charter Day. Each member hosts the summit in turn, in alphabetical order, which is one reason the missed Islamabad meeting left a gap in the calendar instead of simply moving to the next host.
What SAARC actually produced
On trade it produced SAPTA, a preferential trading arrangement in 1995, and then SAFTA, the South Asian Free Trade Area, signed in 2004 and in force from 1 January 2006. India has gone further on its own by giving duty-free access to most goods from the least developed members.
Other institutions include the South Asian University in New Delhi, the SAARC Development Fund, the SAARC Food Bank and the SAARC Disaster Management Centre. The 2017 South Asia Satellite (GSAT-9), built and launched by India, offered communications capacity to neighbours, though Pakistan chose not to take part.
Together these form the record to cite when someone asks whether SAARC achieved anything. The answer is that it built institutions but little deep economic integration.
Why no SAARC summit has been held since 2014
The 18th summit took place in Kathmandu in November 2014. The 19th, due in Islamabad in November 2016, did not happen. After the Uri attack in September 2016 India withdrew, and Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan followed. Without all members present, the summit could not go ahead.
Since then ministerial and officials' meetings have continued at a low level, but no heads-of-government summit has been held. The institution exists on paper, and the secretariat still functions.
The stalemate also shows a weakness of consensus rules: one member's refusal to attend can stop the whole summit. That is the main reason Indian planners prefer smaller groupings where decisions need fewer partners to agree.
SAARC or BIMSTEC: where India puts its energy
BIMSTEC, formed in 1997, links Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand around the Bay of Bengal. Its secretariat is in Dhaka. Pakistan and Afghanistan are not members.
Delhi shifted its focus. In 2014 India invited SAARC leaders to the swearing-in of Prime Minister Modi; in 2019 it invited BIMSTEC leaders instead. Connectivity, security and disaster-response initiatives have since been pursued through BIMSTEC and small groupings.
A good example is road transport. A SAARC motor vehicles agreement was blocked at the 2014 summit, and Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal then signed a similar agreement among themselves in 2015.
BIMSTEC also has a charter of its own, signed in 2022, and a permanent secretariat in Dhaka, which gives it a more formal footing than before.
SAARC facts for exam papers
The fixed facts: founded December 1985 at Dhaka, eight members, Afghanistan joined in 2007, secretariat at Kathmandu, SAFTA in force in 2006. The last summit was in Kathmandu in 2014.
Also remember that the Colombo summit of 2008 and the New Delhi summit of 2007 are earlier meetings; do not confuse them with the 2014 one. Questions sometimes ask which of Myanmar or Afghanistan belongs to SAARC (Afghanistan) and which belongs to BIMSTEC (Myanmar).
Beyond exams, SAARC appears in editorials that compare how little South Asian countries trade with each other, which is the usual argument for reviving it.
The usual comparison is ASEAN, formed in 1967, which has kept regular summits going and built far more trade among its members. South Asian countries trade with each other on a much smaller scale than their size suggests, and high tariffs, restrictions at land borders and poor transport links are the commonly cited reasons.
One small SAARC feature that still matters is the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme, which let designated categories of officials and professionals travel without ordinary visas. Its working has been uneven, because it depends on each government issuing the special sticker, but it is a reminder that SAARC created practical arrangements as well as speeches.
SAARC still has a charter, a secretariat and working-level contacts, though the summit has been stalled since 2014. For exams, hold on to the five fixed facts: 1985, Dhaka, eight members, Kathmandu and Afghanistan in 2007.
SAARC Full Form: Common Questions
What is the full form of SAARC?
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. It is a regional organisation of South Asian states, set up when its charter was signed in Dhaka in December 1985.
How many members does SAARC have?
Eight: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan joined in 2007.
Where is the SAARC secretariat?
In Kathmandu, Nepal. Several other SAARC bodies sit in other capitals, for example the Disaster Management Centre and the South Asian University in New Delhi.
When was the last SAARC summit?
The 18th summit was held in Kathmandu in November 2014. The 19th, planned for Islamabad in 2016, never took place after several members, including India, pulled out.
What is the difference between SAARC and BIMSTEC?
SAARC has eight South Asian members including Pakistan and Afghanistan. BIMSTEC has seven Bay of Bengal states including Myanmar and Thailand, but not Pakistan or Afghanistan.
What is SAFTA?
The South Asian Free Trade Area, an agreement among SAARC members signed in 2004 and in force from 1 January 2006, which lowers tariffs in stages.