SAARC Member Countries

19th SAARC Summits in Islamabad, Pakistan

Date: 9-10 November 2016

Venue(s): Jinnah Convention Centre, Islamabad Kashmir Point, Murree

Possible participating Countries: Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka

Countries boycotting the Summit: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India

Chair: Nawaz Sharif

The upcoming 19th SAARC Summit is scheduled to take place in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, in 2016. The last summit was held in Kathmandu in 2014. The SAARC Summit is organized after a gap of two years. The announcement of holding the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad was made by the Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala at the concluding session of the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu.

About SAARC

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was founded as a movement toward collective progress for the involved nations of South Asia. The organization promoted political cooperation between these strategic nations for the mutual progression of the countries socially, economically, and culturally.

There were seven original members of the SAARC: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan later joined the SAARC in 2007 bringing the total number of members up to eight. There are also nine observer states: Australia, China, the European Union, Japan, Iran, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea, and the United States of America.

The idea for the SAARC was proposed on May 2, 1980, by Ziaur Rahman, the then President of Bangladesh. The founding countries met for the first time in April 1981 and then in 1985, they created the SAARC Charter. They sought peace, stability, amity, and progress including improving quality of life for all the involved nations.

SAARC Summits Dates and Host Cities

No	Date	Country	Host	Host leader
19th	9-10 November 2016	Pakistan	Islamabad	Nawaz Sharif
18th	26-27 November 2014	Nepal	Kathmandu	Sushil Koirala
17th	10-11 November 2011	Maldives	Addu	Mohammed Nasheed
16th	28-29 April 2010	Bhutan	Thimphu	Jigme Thinley
15th	1-3 August 2008	Sri Lanka	Colombo	Mahinda Rajapaksa
14th	3-4 April 2007	India	New Delhi	Manmohan Singh
13th	12-13 November 2005	Bangladesh	Dhaka	Khaleda Zia
12th	2-6 January 2004	Pakistan	Islamabad	Zafarullah Khan Jamali
11th	4-6 January 2002	Nepal	Kathmandu	Sher Bahadur Deuba
10th	29-31 July 1998	Sri Lanka	Colombo	Chandrika Kumaratunga
9th	12-14 May 1997	Maldives	Malé	Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
8th	2-4 May 1995	India	New Delhi	P V Narasimha Rao
7th	10-11 April 1993	Bangladesh	Dhaka	Khaleda Zia
6th	21 December 1991	Sri Lanka	Colombo	Ranasinghe Premadasa
5th	21-23 November 1990	Maldives	Malé	Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
4th	29-31 December 1988	Pakistan	Islamabad	Benazir Bhutto
3rd	2-4 November 1987	Nepal	Kathmandu	Marich Man Singh Shrestha
2nd	16-17 November 1986	India	Bengaluru	Jayanth M Gowda
1st	7-8 December 1985	Bangladesh	Dhaka	Ataur Rahman Khan

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