The 19th Summit will be hosted by Pakistan in Cooperation in SAARC is based on respect for the five principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political independence, non-interference in internal affairs of the Member States and mutual benefit. Decisions are made on an unanimity basis while bilateral and contentious issues are excluded from the deliberations of SAARC. Premises for the Museum have been acquired in January The Sixteenth SAARC Summit in Thimphu, reiterating the centrality of connectivity to further deepen and consolidate regional integration, endorsed the recommendation to declare as the "Decade of Intra-regional Connectivity in SAARC" and agreed on the need to expedite negotiations with a view to finalizing the two agreements on Motor Vehicles and Railways.
Member States have appreciated India's gesture to give duty free access to LDCs from January 1, , one year ahead of target date and unilateral reduction of its Sensitive List with respect to LDCs from to They exchanged information and best practices on administrative reform initiatives with the aim of accelerating the process of eradication of poverty in the region. Member States noted with appreciation the presentation by India of two Concept Papers on Performance Management and Evaluation and Sharing of Best Practices in Information Technology and expressed the desire for enhanced cooperation.
India has also funded regional development projects in the areas of telemedicine, tele-education, solar rural electrification, rainwater harvesting, seed testing laboratories and shuttle breeding of pulses using a hub-and-spokes approach. The projects, in various stages of implementation, have been greatly appreciated by the recipient SAARC countries.
Shabana Azmi from India; and Mr. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy from Pakistan. The Ministers highlighted actions taken to counter acts of terrorism, drug controls and human-trafficking at national and regional level. They also unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and called for collective efforts in countering terrorism. SAARC Cabinet Secretaries have met four times since in order to discuss their professional issues such as administrative reform, procedural simplification and implementation of development programs in SAARC countries.
Their Fourth Meeting held in Kathmandu in June shared best practices in their governance system and discussed framework of collective cooperation for achieving regional prosperity and welfare of the peoples. Back-to-back to the meeting, Nepal made a presentation on the performance-based incentive system in Nepal. Parliament members in the region are also interested in making SAARC effective and people-centred organization.
Prime Minister of Nepal inaugurated the Conference. Primary Menu Skip to content. SAARC mainly aims to promote welfare of South Asians; improve their quality of life; accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development; provide all individuals opportunity to live in dignity and realize their full potentials; and promote and strengthen collective self-reliance. During the Summit, SAARC leaders renewed their commitment to deepening regional integration for peace and prosperity by promoting mutual trust, amity, understanding, cooperation and partnership.
They also reiterated the need for reinvigorating regional cooperation and revitalizing the Association as an effective vehicle to fulfill the development aspirations of its people. It formulates policies; reviews progress of cooperation; decides on new areas of cooperation; establishes additional mechanism when necessary and also takes decision on other matters of general interest to the Association. Up to now, there have been 37 sessions of the Council held.
It is mandated to mobilize regional and external resources and to identify new areas of cooperation. The Programming Committee meets prior to the Standing Committee sessions or at the end of each English calendar year to finalize calendar of activities, programs and budget of the Secretariat, Regional Centers and Specialized Bodies. A number of milestones have been accomplished toward greater cooperation in financial issues within SAARC region.
However, due to some technical difficulties, the reserve was not been utilized by the member states. The SAARC Food Bank was established initially to provide emergency supply to a nation facing crisis resulting from production shortfall or a natural calamity like cyclone, floods, draught, earthquake and such other factors.
The fourteenth SAARC summit in New Delhi in approved the move to adopt a common approach to collective food security of the region and since then the institutional progress and policy guidelines have much walked ahead to give it a functional character. SAARC Food Bank is now operational and now the question is how to make it broad based and responsive to taking challenges of disaster mitigation that a nation may suffer from any of the calamities.
At the time of establishment of the Food Bank, the total quantum of food grain was finalized at , Metric Tons from the original signatory Member States.
Thus, the total quantum stood at , MT. This was a follow-up of the earlier three meetings, the first and the second of which were held in Colombo in October, and February, respectively, and the third one in Kabul in November, Communication plays a vital role in building regional cooperation. The heads of states of SAARC countries have stressed the importance of developing infrastructure and adequate communications networks among Member States to reinforce the process of economic cooperation during the ninth SAARC summit held in Male in To enhance the collaboration among the member states of SAARC with regard to communication, the communication ministers of SAARC countries have been meeting on a regular basis and a number of programs have been initiated.
A plan of Action on telecommunication was adopted in the first conference of SAARC Communication ministers in May, to promote cooperation among Member States in the field of telecommunication on a sustained basis. A Revised SAARC Plan of Action on Telecommunications was adopted in with a view to promoting cooperation in the enhancement of telecommunication links, utilizing information technologies within the SAARC region and minimizing disparities within and among Member States in the telecommunication field.
The working group holds several meeting and discussed various aspects of regional cooperation on communication. The group also discussed issues like cross-border interference of radio signals, revision of accounting rates and collection charges among SAARC countries, multilateral utilization of terrestrial communications routes among SAARC countries, cyber security etc.
Since the inception of SAARC, its member states have been working together with a view to alleviating poverty in the region. At the thirteenth summit held in Dhaka on 13 November , SAARC leaders decided to give priority attention to encourage regional cooperation in the areas of science and technology to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. Accordingly, the first meeting of the Ministers of Science and Technology took place in New Delhi on 16 September, The Plan of Action identifies areas of i Cooperation in the field of science and technology, ii Standardization and laboratory testing, iii Themes for cooperation, and iv Project development.
The Ministers also approved a number of short-term activities to be carried out during the year At this meeting, implementation of the SAARC Action Plan was reviewed and a number of short term activities were approved for implementation. The Ministers expressed their firm commitment for the prioritization of initiatives in Science and Technology in the region for a prosperous South Asia. Regional cooperation in the areas security among the SAARC member states has seen significant development.
A good number of milestones have been achieved through successful coordination among the SAARC member countries in the fields of drug and drug related crimes, terrorism and police matters. The convention entered into force on 15 November following its ratification by all member states. The objectives of the Desk are to collate, analyze and disseminate information on terrorist offences, tactics, strategies and methods.
For more, visit here. The purpose of this Additional Protocol is to strengthen the SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism, particularly by criminalizing the provision, collection or acquisition of funds for the purpose of committing terrorist acts and taking further measures to prevent and suppress financing of such acts. Acceleration of social progress through active collaboration and mutual assistance amongst Member States was a primary objective of SAARC.
SAARC promotes social agenda in the region mainly through cooperation in the following areas:. The heads of states of SAARC countries during the second summit held at Bangalore in underlined that concrete steps should be taken to facilitate tourism in the region. A Technical Committee on Tourism was created in The twenty-fourth session of the Council of Ministers held in Islamabad on January, , approved establishment of the Working Group on Tourism.
The Working Group on Tourism prepared a Plan of Activities which includes promotion of SAARC as a common tourist destination, to encourage private sector in promoting regional cooperation in tourism, human resource development, promotion of South Asia identity through tourism, cultural and eco-tourism development.
The Working Group was authorized to periodically review implementation of this Action Plan. The leaders at the fourth summit which was held in Islamabad in December, decided that certain categories of dignitaries should be entitled to a special travel document, which would exempt them from visas while travelling within the region. It was decided that twenty-four categories of entitled persons, which include dignitaries, judges of higher courts, parliamentarians, senior officials, businessmen, journalists, sportsmen, etc.
Later in February, , a meeting of the SAARC foreign ministers revisited the scheme approved a proposal to exempt 19 categories of people from visa requirement and agreed on a liberalized scheme under which select journalists, business persons and sportspersons can be given long-term multi-entry visas after prior clearance. The SAARC Youth Awards Scheme was introduced in with a view to promoting extraordinary young talents and encouraging the overall development of the youth in the region.
The Agreement provides for cooperation on development issues through joint studies, workshops and seminars and exchange of information and documentation in poverty alleviation, human resource development, trade promotion, foreign direct investment, environmental protection and prevention of drug trafficking, infrastructure development, etc.
The Agreement envisages cooperation in implementing the relevant SAARC decisions relating to Children through an annual agenda which include joint studies, exchange of documentation and monitoring of implementation.
They will also exchange technical and operational details of plans for improvement of national, regional and international telecommunications network. The MOU embodies a general agreement for broad-based collaboration with the aims and purposes of promoting sustainable human development for attaining poverty elimination, preservation and protection of environment, regeneration of natural resources, employment creation, and the goals of women in development; undertakes periodic consultation for joint activities, publishing studies on priority concerns, and exchanging relevant reports.
The Memorandum contains provisions for mutual consultation and exchange of information between the two organizations. In addition, the two organizations have agreed to seek each other's technical cooperation in pursuing their respective drug control activities in areas of drug supply and demand reduction to assist in the development and implementation of activities, such as human resource development, improving regional cooperation on drug intelligence through the SAARC Drug Offences Monitoring Desk, establishment of a networking arrangement among existing institutions in drug abuse prevention, etc.
Colombo Plan. The Speakers Council which is the Apex Body of the Association finalized and ratified the draft rules of the Association prepared by the Parliamentary Secretaries-General in January, Since then they have met periodically and addressed issues of common interest to member countries. The establishment of SCCI is a significant development and it will act as a dynamic instrument for the promotion of regional cooperation in the areas of trade and economic relations.
Established with the twin objectives of bringing together the legal communities within the region for closer cooperation and developing law as a source towards social change for development, SAARCLAW has been convening periodic conferences covering important areas of common interest to member countries.
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