The eight South Asian countries’ bloc South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has got a new Secretary General.
Founded in December 8, 1985 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, SAARC is an economic and political regional organisation of countries in South Asia set up in 1985. It aims to accelerate the process of economic and social development in its member states through increased intra-regional cooperation.
SAARC has its Secretariat in Kathmandu of Nepal.
According to the SAARC Secretariat, veteran diplomat Mr. Golam Sarwar of Bangladesh has taken his office responsibility effective on Tuesday October 24, 2023.
A 57-year-old Bangladeshi diplomat Sarwar is the 15th Secretary General of SAARC and the third official to hold top post of the SAARC from Bangladesh has received diplomacy training from Germany besides his academic qualification of Master is Commerce.
Though Afghanistan has to send its diplomat to hold the post of the SAARC as per the alphabetical order rules of the South Asian institution, the new regime in Kabul has not been recognized by the SAARC Secretariat. So, Bangladesh was told to send its diplomat for the new Secretary General that was lying vacant after completion of SAARC’s top post by Sri Lanka’s Esala Ruwan Weerakoon in March.
According to a SAARC statement, while assuming office, Sarwar emphasised the need to raise the profile of the regional body and highlighted the need to engage actively and effectively to serve the member states to accomplish the entrusted important mandates to the secretariat seeking continued support from the member states.
joined the Bangladeshi foreign service in 1991, Sarwar is a career diplomat who has served as Bangladesh ambassador to Malaysia, Oman and Sweden, with concurrently accredited to Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. He was the Consul General of Bangladesh in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and worked in various Bangladeshi missions such as Yangon, Kuala Lumpur, Kathmandu and Washington DC.
