Cross-border Infrastructure

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka formally adopted the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Charter on 8 December 1985. SAARC provides a platform for the people of South Asia to work together to accelerate the process of economic and social development. Afghanistan was invited to become a member of SAARC during the 13th SAARC Summit in November 2005.

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In preparatory meetings prior to the first summit, members identified nine areas of cooperation under an Integrated Programme of Action (IPA) – agriculture; health and population activities; meteorology; postal services; rural development; science and technology; sports, arts and culture; telecommunications; and transport. At the 12th SAARC Summit in 2004, the Council of Ministers approved the restructuring of core areas. Under a new Regional Integrated Programme of Action (RIPA), the Technical Committees (TCs) were reorganized into seven: agriculture and rural development; environment and forestry; health and population activities; human resource development; science and technology and meteorology; transport; and women, youth and children. Also, five new Working Groups were created to focus on biotechnology, energy, information and communications technology (ICT), and tourism.

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Agreements

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Meetings

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