In South Asia, taking historical steps in the direction of regional cooperation, in 1985, SAARC was founded. It was founded in Dhaka and its secretariat is in Kathmandu.
Basically, in beginning there were seven member countries of SAARC- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives. On April, 3,2007, Afghanistan became the 8th member country of SAARC. Thus, there are 8 member countries of SAARC. The partnership of SAARC in world population is 21%, in area it is 3%, and in global economy it is 9.12%. SAARC itself is an observer of UNO.
