Ambassador Golam Sarwar, Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and his wife Taslima Sarwar hosted a Reception to celebrate the Thirty-ninth Charter Day of SAARC at Hotel Radisson, Kathmandu on 11 December 2023.

 

Rt. Hon'ble Mr. Ramsahay Prasad Yadav, Vice President of Nepal, graced the occasion with his presence as the Chief Guest.

 

Among the guests present at the commemorative event were Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers, State Ministers, high-ranking officials from the Supreme Court, Constitutional Bodies, Government, Security Agencies, Heads of Diplomatic Missions, including SAARC's Observer Missions, representatives of civil society and business community, media personnel and people from all walks of life.

Heads of States/Governments of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka issued special messages to commemorate this historic day. 

 

Addressing the reception, Ambassador Sarwar stated that since its establishment, SAARC has made steady progress in several agreed areas of cooperation, including poverty alleviation, which has been described by the SAARC Leaders as the over-arching goal of SAARC. He also briefly reviewed the progress of SAARC during 2023 including the ongoing programs supported by ADB, UNESCAP, UNICEF, Government of Japan, Government of Republic of Korea, which are going on full swings, and the activities of Regional Centres and the Specialized Bodies of SAARC located in the member countries. He expressed his optimism to further accelerate the activities of SAARC in the coming years.

 

The function hosted by the Secretary General of SAARC included a live cultural performance of dances from the eight member states, depicting their rich cultural heritage.

 

It may be mentioned that, the Heads of State or Government of seven South Asian countries launched SAARC by adopting its Charter at the First Summit held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 08 December 1985 and thereby created the largest regional organisation having more than one quarter of global population.

 

Since then, 08 December every year is observed as the SAARC Charter Day across the South Asia Region.

 

SAARC Secretariat,

Kathmandu,

12 December 2023