SAARC and BIMSTEC
South Asian Regional Architecture
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), founded in 1985 with HQ in Kathmandu, includes 8 member states (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan). It has been effectively paralysed since 2016 when India boycotted the Islamabad summit over cross-border terrorism. BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), founded in 1997 with HQ in Dhaka, includes 7 members (India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand) and has increasingly replaced SAARC as India's preferred South Asian multilateral platform.
- SAARC founded: December 8, 1985; last summit: 2014 (Kathmandu)
- BIMSTEC founded: June 6, 1997 (originally BIST-EC); BIMSTEC Charter adopted 2022
- Nepal is both a SAARC and BIMSTEC member
- Nepal hosts SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu
- BIMSTEC focus areas: trade, technology, energy, transport, tourism, fisheries, agriculture, public health, people-to-people contacts
● Tracked since February 21, 2026 · last seen June 06, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes