H. E. Mr. Arjun B. Thapa assumes office of the Secretary-General of SAARC

H. E. Mr. Arjun Bahadur Thapa of Nepal assumed charge as the Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) from 1 March 2014. H. E. Mr. Thapa is the twelfth Secretary-General of the Association and succeeds H. E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem of the Maldives.

H. E. Mr. Thapa was appointed to the position by the Thirty-fifth Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers held in the Maldives on 20 February 2014. Endorsing the nomination from the Government of Nepal, the Council “approved the appointment of H. E. Mr. Arjun Bahadur Thapa as the next Secretary General of SAARC for a three-year term commencing from 1st March 2014.”

Prior to this appointment, H. E. Mr. Thapa served as the Foreign Secretary of Nepal. In his diplomatic career, H. E. Mr. Thapa has also served as Ambassador of Nepal to the United Arab Emirates and as Deputy Permanent Representative/Minister Plenipotentiary as well as Charge d’Affaires, a.i., at the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations in New York.

Born in January 1956, H. E. Mr. Thapa has a Masters’ Degree in International Law.

The Secretaries-General of SAARC are appointed by the Council of Ministers upon nomination by a Member State on the basis of the principle of rotation in alphabetical order for a period of three years.

Launched in December 1985, SAARC comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as its members.

The Thirty-Fifth Session of the SAARC Ministers of Foreign/External Affairs was held in the Maldives on 20th February 2014.  The meeting was inaugurated by H.E. Mr. Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, President of the Republic of Maldives.   This was preceded by Fortieth Session of the Standing Committee, 6th Special Session of the Standing Committee and Forty-fifth Session of the Programming Committee during 17-19 February, 2014, with participation from all SAARC Member States.

The Foreign/External Affairs Ministers of SAARC Member States had last met in Addu City, Maldives in November, 2011.

During these meetings, the whole gamut of issues related to co-operation amongst Member States of SAARC were discussed, including strengthening of SAARC Mechanism.  

The Council was unanimous in applauding the out-going Secretary-General, H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, for his stewardship in taking the SAARC process forward.  The Council also approved the appointment of Mr. Arjun Bahadur Thapa, former Foreign Secretary, Government of Nepal, as the new Secretary-General of SAARC.  H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem demits office on 28th February, 2014.

During the meeting, Nepal also announced hosting the Eighteenth Summit of Heads of SAARC Member States sometime in November, 2014.

The 45th Session of the SAARC Programming Committee was held on 17 February 2014 in the Bandos Island Resort, the Maldives.

H.E. Mr. Hassan Shifau, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the Republic of Maldives and Chair for the Meeting opened the Session by welcoming the delegates from all Member States and SAARC Secretariat.

In his opening remarks, H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary-General of SAARC updated the Committee on the implementation of the decisions taken at the Forty-fourth Session of the Programming Committee (SAARC Secretariat, 9-11 December 2013).

The Programming Committee deliberated on a number of issues of cooperation and financial and administrative matters of SAARC. Delegations from all the SAARC Members attended the Meeting.

The Thirty-Fifth Session of the SAARC Ministers of Foreign/External Affairs will be held in the Maldives on 20th February 2014. This would be preceded by Fortieth Session of the Standing Committee, 6th Special Session of the Standing Committee and Forty-fifth Session of the Programming Committee during 17-19 February, 2014. All Member States will participate in these meetings..