SAARC Secretariat

In addition to the activities and programmes organised by the member states to commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of SAARC, the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu organised a Photo Exhibition from 1-6 December 1995. The Exhibition which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba, displayed a collection of photos of all major SAARC events of the decade, including those of all the Summits and other important meetings and activities. The Exhibition also included a section on stamps from member countries issued on various SAARC themes.

SAARC Secretary-General hosted a reception on 8 December 1995 on the occasion of the SAARC Charter Day as well as to mark the Tenth Anniversary of SAARC. The Reception was attended by the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, other senior officials of the government of Nepal, SAARC Ambassadors, Heads of other diplomatic missions, UN and international Agencies and prominent media representatives.

Private Sector Contribution

SAARC has emphasised the need to strengthen people-to-people contact within the region to ensure increased involvement of the peoples of South Asia in the process of regional cooperation. Successive Summits have highlighted the key role of the private sector, including the business community/professional bodies, scholars, academics in this regard.

During the past ten years, inter-governmental cooperation within SAARC has been supplemented by several research organisations, professional bodies and academics, who have all contributed towards strengthening this process.

On the eve of the Tenth Anniversary of SAARC, the Coalition for Action on South Asian Cooperation (CASAC), an independent body of individuals working for the acceleration of progress of South Asian regional cooperation had put together for the Commemorative Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers, some thoughts about the kind of cooperative arrangements which ought to be put in place as the world stands on the threshold of the Twenty first Century.

In their discussion paper entitled “SAARC : Vision for the Second Decade”, CASAC had evaluated the progress made by SAARC, identified a number of hurdles faced by the regional organisation and outlined a broad vision for the second decade. In its vision for the second decade, the group highlighted the necessity to strengthen the political understanding needed for cooperation and the importance of continued thrust towards greater economic cooperation. Among other areas stressed by the group include environment and disaster management, strengthening the institutional framework and the roles and functions of official and non-official bodies.

Noting that the second decade of SAARC is likely to be as challenging as the first, CASAC had come to the conclusion that as opposed to the confidence-building stage of the first decade, the consolidation stage of the second decade will require stronger commitments from the member states for long-term plans and programmes which are necessary for taking SAARC activities into core areas. The group felt that to a large extent the success of the second decade will depend on two crucial factors: the willingness of the member states to move ahead with some degree of risk, in place of perennial caution, and their willingness to loosely interpret the scope of “non-contentious” issues by allowing the organisation to look into areas which are essential for fulfilling its objective.

Having outlined several choices and suggested some possible options in their paper, CASAC finally observed that the real choice for the regional policy makers during the next decade will be to decide how far, and how fast, they are willing to move forward to turn the vision of a South Asian Community into a reality.

[Page of Contents] [Discover South Asia page] [ SCCI tourism council Home Page]