On 8th December 1985, the Heads of State and Government of South Asia signed the Charter of the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation and the Dhaka Declaration to accelerate the process of economic and social development in South Asia through optimum utilisation of human and material resources in the seven countries. The leaders were conscious that peace and security were essential prerequisites for the realisation of these objectives.

The Fourteenth Anniversity of the Signing of the Charter establishing SAARC was marked at the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu on December 8, says a SAARC press release.

Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, was the Chief Guest. On the occasion, he said: “ The SAARC Charter embodies the lofty goals of peace, stability, amity and progress in South Asia and provides a framework of cooperation for their realisation. We consider the SAARC Charter as a vital instrument for the promotion of regional identity and solidarity and remain fully committed to this objective.”

The Prime Minister was of the view that our region contains the largest number of poor in the world. Indeed some efforts have been made towards poverty alleviation, our success in this field is still a long way off. He added that time has come to seriously think as to how we could promote a genuine partnership and mobilise resources, both national as well as regional, in liberating South Asia from the vicious circle of poverty.

The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction that cooperation in substantive areas has received priority under SAARC in the recent years.

Secretary-General Nihal Rodrigo read out a message received from the current Chairperson of the Association, the President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. In her message, she briefly reviewed the achievements and shortcomings of the Association in the context of the acceleration of profound social, economic and technical changes that have taken place regionally as well as internationally in the last fourteen years.

She looked forward to the Eleventh Summit in Kathmandu to consolidate the achievements of preceding Summits and to work out practical strategies for the future development of the region.

“What progress we have managed to achieve should not lead to complacency; our shortcomings should not encourage pessimism and cynicism”, she said in her message. The first copy of a publication of the Secretariat entitled, The SAARC Mosaic: An Introduction to the Nations of South Asia was presented to the Prime Minister