Treaties & agreements · 1985

SAARC Charter

MultilateralIn force

Signed

1985

8 December 1985, Dhaka (first SAARC Summit)

Parties

Bangladesh · Bhutan · India · Maldives · Nepal · Pakistan · Sri Lanka

What the agreement says

The substantive terms, article by article where the structure allows.

Article I sets the objectives: promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and improve their quality of life; accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development; and promote collective self-reliance.
Article II grounds cooperation in sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political independence and non-interference, with regional cooperation to complement — not substitute — bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
Institutional articles establish annual Summits of heads of state or government, a Council of Foreign Ministers meeting twice yearly, Standing, Technical and Programming Committees, and a Secretariat.
Decision-making at all levels is by unanimity, and 'bilateral and contentious issues' are excluded from deliberations — the price of getting India and Pakistan into one room, and the design flaw that lets any member freeze everything.

The full story

How it came about — and what it means

The Charter of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was signed in Dhaka on 8 December 1985 at the first SAARC Summit by seven heads of state or government — President Ershad of Bangladesh, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan, PM Rajiv Gandhi of India, President Gayoom of the Maldives, King Birendra of Nepal, President Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan and President Jayewardene of Sri Lanka — realising an initiative championed by Bangladesh's President Ziaur Rahman from 1980. The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987 and inaugurated by King Birendra, making Nepal the organisation's permanent host: small enough to threaten no one, located between the bloc's two nuclear rivals, and eager for a multilateral role.

The Charter's design encodes South Asia's politics. Unanimity plus the exclusion of 'bilateral and contentious issues' was the price of getting India and Pakistan into one room: the organisation could only work on what everyone agreed was uncontroversial — agriculture, health, terrorism conventions, SAFTA trade liberalisation from 2006. The same design doomed it to hostage-taking: any member can freeze everything, and since the 19th Summit (scheduled for Islamabad in November 2016) was postponed indefinitely after India and other members withdrew following the Uri attack, the Summit process has been frozen entirely. The 18th Summit in Kathmandu in November 2014 thus stands, for now, as the last; its 'Kathmandu Declaration' on deeper integration reads today as an epitaph as much as an agenda.

For Nepal the stakes are practical: hosting the Secretariat brought permanent diplomatic infrastructure, visibility and a claim to be South Asia's neutral convening ground. Nepal has hosted three Summits in Kathmandu — the 3rd (1987), 11th (2002) and 18th (2014) — supplies the Secretariat's host-state infrastructure, has provided Secretaries-General, and hosts the SAARC Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre in Bhaktapur. Nine observers include China, the USA, the EU, Japan and South Korea. SAFTA preferences, the SAARC Development Fund and regional connectivity initiatives all run through Kathmandu's hosting role, and Nepali governments of every stripe continue to invest in reviving the organisation — while hedging with BIMSTEC, whose 4th Summit Kathmandu hosted in 2018, as the functioning alternative.

What followed

Consequences & legacy

The SAARC Secretariat has been headquartered in Kathmandu since 16 January 1987 — the only major international organisation based in Nepal, and one of modern Nepali diplomacy's signal achievements.
SAFTA trade liberalisation from 2006, the SAARC Development Fund and regional centres (including the TB and HIV/AIDS Centre in Bhaktapur) operate under the Charter.
The Summit process has been frozen since the 19th Summit was postponed indefinitely in 2016; as host of the Secretariat, Nepal has repeatedly called for it to resume.

← Earlier agreementSino-Nepal Boundary Agreement, Treaty & Protocol1961 Later agreement →Mahakali Treaty (Pancheshwar)1996

Common questions

SAARC Charter: FAQ

When was the SAARC Charter signed?+

The SAARC Charter was signed on 8 December 1985, Dhaka (first SAARC Summit).

Who were the parties to the SAARC Charter?+

The parties were Bangladesh and Bhutan and India and Maldives and Nepal and Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It was signed by King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (Nepal), with six other heads of state or government.

What did the SAARC Charter establish?+

The founding charter of South Asia's regional organisation, signed by King Birendra and six other leaders in Dhaka. Its greatest prize for Nepal came in 1987: the permanent SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu — the only major international organisation headquartered there. The organisation has been functionally paralysed since 2016. A core provision: Article I sets the objectives: promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and improve their quality of life; accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development; and promote collective self-reliance.

Is the SAARC Charter still in force today?+

Yes. The SAARC Charter is classed as "In force" and remains operative today.

Sources & data note

Dates, terms and figures for the SAARC Charter as documented by the listed sources. Where credible sources disagree, the discrepancy is stated on this page rather than silently resolved.