Question

Where is the headquarters of SAARC located?

Answer 1

Hint: It is the capital as well as the largest city of Nepal. It is also known as the city of temples, the city stands at an elevation of around 1,400 metres above sea level. The city was also referred to as the royal capital of the Kingdom of Nepal and hosts palaces,gardens and mansions of the Nepalese aristocracy.

Complete answer:
SAARC stands for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. It was formed when its Charter was formally adopted on the date of 8th December 1985 by the Heads of State or Government of Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The headquarters of the SAARC Secretariat are located in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The SAARC had launched the South Asian Free Trade Area during 2006. The SAARC also maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the United Nations as an observer as well as has developed links along with multilateral entities, including the European Union.

Additional information:
The main objective of this group is to support its member countries to expand their trade and develop their economy. There are specialized bodies created by SAARC to assist its member countries in specialized ways. These bodies are the South Asian Regional Organisation in Bangladesh, SAARC Arbitration Council (SARCO) in Pakistan, SAARC Development Fund (SDF) in Bhutan and, South Asian University (SAU) in India.

It also has regional centers that support the secretariat to promote regional cooperation among the member states. These regional centers are SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC) in Sri Lanka, SAARC Energy Centre (SEC) in Pakistan, SAARC Human Resource Development Centre in Pakistan, SAARC Agricultural center (SAC) in Nepal, SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC) in Bangladesh, SAARC Forestry Centre in Bhutan, SAARC Documentation Centre in India, SAARC Disaster Management Centre in India, SAARc coastal Zone management center in the Maldives, SAARC information Centre in Nepal and, SAARC Tuberculosis and Hiv/AIDS Centre in Nepal.

Hence the correct answer is ‘Kathmandu’.

Note: The establishment of the South Asian Free Trade Area was the first step towards creating a common market and economic union for the member countries. It also has 10 observer countries which include Iran, Japan, Mauritius, United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, Myanmar, Australia, China, and the European Union.