VALUE ADDED NOTES UPSC MAINS www.IASTODAY.in ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 24 x 7 LIVE CHAT SUPPORT Email support:[email protected] 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 Lumpur & Langkawi Malaysia 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,