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SAARC

About SAARC

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union in South Asia. Its member states include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SAARC was founded in Dhaka in 1985. Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu. The organization promotes development of economical and regional integration. It launched the South Asian Free Trade Area in 2006. SAARC maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the United Nation as an observer and has developed links with multilateral entities, including the European Union Observers States with observer status include Australia, China, the European Union, Iran, Japan, Mauritius Myanmar, South Korea and the United States. OBJECTIVES The objectives of the ASSOCIATION shall be:

1. To promote the welfare of the peoples of SOUTH ASIA and to improve their quality of life. 2. To accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region 3. To provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realise their full potentials. 4. To promote and strengthen collective self-reliance among the countries of SOUTH ASIA 5. To contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another's problems.

6. To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields. 7. To strengthen cooperation with other developing countries. 8. To strengthen cooperation among themselves in international forums on matters of common interests. 9. To cooperate with international and regional organisations with similar aims and purposes. SAARC Awards The Twelfth Summit approved the SAARC Award to support individuals and organisations within the region. The main aims of the SAARC Award are:

 To encourage individuals and organisations based in South Asia to undertake programmes and activities that complement the efforts of SAARC  To encourage individuals and organizations in South Asia contributing to bettering the conditions of women and children  To honour outstanding contributions and achievements of individuals and organizations within the region in the fields of peace, development, poverty alleviation, environment protection and regional cooperation  To honour any other contributions and achievement not covered above of individuals and organisations in the region.

The SAARC Award consists of a gold medal, a letter of citation, and cash prize of US $25,000 (15 lakhs). Since the institution of the SAARC Award in 2004, it has been awarded only once and the Award was posthumously conferred upon the late President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh. SAARC Literary Award SAARC Literary Award is an annual award conferred by the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) since 2001 which is an apex SAARC body. Shamshur Rahman,Mahasweta Devi, Jayanta Mahapatra, Abhi Subedi, Mark Tully, Uday Prakash, Suman Pokhrel and Abhay K are some of the prominent recipients of this award.

Nepali poet, lyricist and translator Suman Pokhrel is the only poet/writer to get this award twice.

SAARC Youth Award The SAARC Youth Award is awarded to outstanding individuals from the SAARC region. The award is based on specific themes which apply to each year. The award recognises and promotes the commitment and talent of the youth who give back to the world at large through various initiatives such as Inventions, Protection of the Environment and Disaster relief. SAARC Summits

No Date Country Host

1st December 1985 Bangladesh Dhaka

2nd November 1986 India Bengaluru

3rd November 1987 Nepal Kathmandu

4th December 1988 Pakistan Islamabad 5th November 1990 Maldives Male

6th December 1991 Sri Lanka Colombo

7th April 1993 Bangladesh Dhaka

8th May 1995 India New Delhi 9th May 1997 Maldives Male

10th July 1998 Sri Lanka Colombo

11th January 2002 Nepal Kathmandu

12th January 2004 Pakistan Islamabad

13th November 2005 Bangladesh Dhaka

14th April 2007 India New Delhi

15th August 2008 Sri Lanka Colombo

16th April 2010 Bhutan Thimphu

17th November 2011 Maldives Addu

18th November 2014 Nepal Kathmandu

19th November 2016 Pakistan Islamabad and Murree

Group of 20 (G-20)

About G-20: The G20 (or G-20 or Group of Twenty) is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies. It was founded in 1999 with the aim of studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization

The G20, is the latest in a series of post-World War II initiatives aimed at international coordination of economic policy, which include institutions such as the "Bretton Woods twins", the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and what is now the World Trade Organization Member States: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union G-20 Summits: Summit was created as a response both to the financial crisis of 2007–2010 and to a growing recognition that key emerging countries were not adequately included in the core of global economic discussion and governance

1st November 2008 United States Washington, D.C.

2nd April 2009 United Kingdom London

3rd September 2009 United States Pittsburgh

4th June 2010 Canada Toronto

5th November 2010 South Korea Seoul

6th November 2011 France Cannes

7th June 2012 Mexico San José del Cabo, Los Cabos

8th September 2013 Russia Strelna, Saint Petersburg

9th November 2014 Australia Brisbane

10th November 2015 Turkey Belek, Antalya

11th September 2016 China Hangzhou

12th July 2017 Germany Hamburg

13th November 2018 Argentina Buenos Aires

ASEAN

About ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The organisation's membership has expanded to include Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and Vietnam. AIMS AND PURPOSE As set out in the ASEAN Declaration, the aims and purposes of ASEAN are:

1. To accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region through joint endeavours in the spirit of equality and partnership in order to strengthen the foundation for a prosperous and peaceful community of Southeast Asian Nations. 2. To promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries of the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter. 3. To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields.

4. To provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities in the educational, professional, technical and administrative spheres. 5. To collaborate more effectively for the greater utilisation of their agriculture and industries, the expansion of their trade, including the study of the problems of international commodity trade, the improvement of their transportation and communications facilities and the raising of the living standards of their peoples. 6. To promote Southeast Asian studies. 7. To maintain close and beneficial cooperation with existing international and regional organisations with similar aims and purposes, and explore all avenues for even closer cooperation among themselves. ASEAN Plus Three ASEAN Plus Three" was created to improve existing ties with the People's Republic of China, Japan, and South Korea. This was followed by the even larger East Asia Summit (EAS), which included ASEAN Plus Three countries as well as India, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Russia. Recent ASEAN Summits April 2013 Bandar Seri Brunei October 2013 Begawan May 2014

Myanmar Nay Pyi Taw November 2014 Kuala April 2015 Malaysia Lumpur & Langkawi

November 2015 Kuala Lumpur

September 2016 Laos Vientiane

Philippines Manila November 2017

BIMSTEC

About BIMSTEC The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. This sub-regional organization came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. It constitutes seven Member States:

 Five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka  Two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand

Headquarters: Dhaka, Bangladesh

The regional group constitutes a bridge between South and South East Asia and represents a reinforcement of relations among these countries. BIMSTEC has also established a platform for intra-regional cooperation between SAARC and ASEAN members. Objectives of BIMSTEC: As stated in the Declaration of BIMSTEC, its objectives are:

1. To create an enabling environment for rapid economic development through identification and implementation of specific cooperation projects in the sectors of trade, investment and industry, technology, human recourse development, tourism, agriculture, energy, and infrastructure and transportation. 2. To accelerate the economic growth and social progress in the sub-region through joint endeavors in a spirit of equality and partnership. 3. To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, technical and scientific fields. 4. To provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities in the educational, professional and technical spheres.

5. To cooperate more effectively in joint efforts that are supportive of and complementary to national development plans of Member States which result in tangible benefits to the people in raising their living standards, including generating employment and improving transportation and communication infrastructure. 6. To maintain close and beneficial cooperation with existing international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes. 7. To cooperate in projects that can be dealt with most productively on a sub- regional basis and make best use of available synergies among BIMSTEC member countries.

The ADB has become BIMSTEC's development partner since 2005, to undertake a study which is designed to help promote and improve transport infrastructure and logistic among the BIMSTEC countries.

BRICS  BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC" (or "the BRICs"), before the controversial addition of South Africa in 2010.  The BRICS members are all leading developing or newly industrialized countries, but they are distinguished by their large, sometimes fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional affairs; all five are G-20 members.  The BRICS Forum, an independent international organization encouraging commercial, political and cultural cooperation between the BRICS nations, was formed in 2011.  The BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) is a framework for the provision of support through liquidity and precautionary instruments in response to actual or potential short-term balance of payments pressures. It was established in 2015 by the BRICS countries.  On 15 July 2014, the first day of the 6th BRICS summit held in Fortaleza, Brazil, the BRICS states signed the Agreement on the New Development Bank, which makes provisions for the legal basis of the bank

NDB shall support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments.

NDB shall cooperate with international organizations and other financial entities, and provide technical assistance for projects to be supported by the Bank

Headquarters: Shanghai, China (July, 2015) List of BRICS Summits:  Yekaterinburg , Russia- June 2009  Brasilia, Brazil- April, 2010  Sanya, China- April, 2011  New Delhi, India- March, 2012  Durban, South Africa- March, 2013  Fortaleza, Brazil- July, 2014  Ufa, Russia- July, 2015  Goa, India- October, 2016

IORA

About IORA The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative and Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), is an international organisation consisting of coastal states bordering the Indian Ocean. The IORA is a regional forum, tripartite in nature, bringing together representatives of Government, Business and Academia, for promoting co-operation and closer interaction among them. It is based on the principles of Open Regionalism for strengthening Economic Cooperation particularly on Trade Facilitation and Investment, Promotion as well as Social Development of the region

Headquarters: Mauritius (Est. March 1997) Objectives The objectives of IORA are as follows:

1. To promote sustainable growth and balanced development of the region and member states 2. To focus on those areas of economic cooperation which provide maximum opportunities for development, shared interest and mutual benefits 3. To promote liberalisation, remove impediments and lower barriers towards a freer and enhanced flow of goods, services, investment, and technology within the Indian Ocean rim. Member States: 1. Australia 12. Mozambique 2. Bangladesh 13. Oman 3. Comoros 14. Seychelles 4. India 15. Singapore 5. Indonesia 16. South Africa 6. Iran 17. Sri Lanka 7. Kenya 18. Tanzania 8. Madagascar 19. Thailand 9. Malaysia 20. United Arab Emirates 10. Mauritius 21. Yemen 11. Somalia

SCO

About SCO The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization composed of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan founded in Shanghai in 2001. Originally formed as a confidence- building forum to demilitarize borders, the organization's goals and agenda have

since broadened to include increased military and counter terrorism cooperation and intelligence sharing

Headquarters: Beijing, China

 These countries, except for Uzbekistan had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996  India and Pakistan signed the memorandum of obligations on 24 June 2016 at Tashkent, thereby starting the formal process of joining the SCO as a full member. Observer States: Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, Mongolia Recent SCO Summits

September 2013 Kyrgyzstan Bishkek

September 2014 Tajikistan Dushanbe

July 2015 Russia Ufa

June 2016 Uzbekistan Tashkent

June 2017 Kazakhstan Astana

The big daddy China – China spearheads three other major initiatives in this region – One Belt One Road (OBOR), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and SCO. You should know that the 7th BRICS summit was held as a joint summit with SCO. BRICS has to find a reckoning space among them to keep china’s interests alive!

OPEC

About OPEC:  The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10–14, 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

Headquarters: Vienna, Austria

 14 OPEC countries accounted for 43 percent of global oil production and 73 percent of the world's "proven" oil reserves, giving OPEC a major influence on global oil prices. Objective OPEC's objective is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries, in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers; an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair return on capital to those investing in the industry. Member States: Algeria Angola Ecuador Gabon Indonesia Iran Iraq Kuwait Libya Nigeria Qatar Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Venezuela