SAARC’s New General Secretary

Appointment of the New Secretary General

Question: Who has been appointed as the new General Secretary of SAARC recently?
(a) Amjad Hussain B. Sial
(b) Arjun Bahadur Thapa
(c) Vikas Swaroop
(d) G Parthsarthy
Ans: (a)
Related Fact :

  • On 1st March, 2017, Mr. Amjad Hussain B. Sial assumed charge of the office of Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). He is the 13th general secretary of SAARC.
  • He has succeeded Nepal’s Arjun Bahadur Thapa, who was appointed the Secretary-General in 2014.The Pakistani turn starts from March 1, 2017, and continues till February 28, 2020.
  • Mr. Sial is a seasoned diplomat from Pakistan Foreign Service. He has a rich experience in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy both at Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad and Missions abroad. He was Director (Pakistan) from 2003-2006, at SAARC Secretariat Kathmandu.
  • Before joining SAARC Secretariat he was Special Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad.
    About SAARC:
    The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia. Its member states are- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan joined SAARC as a Member at the Fourteenth SAARC Summit, Delhi, in April 2007.
    The heads of Seven South Asian Countries of SAARC (Bangladeshi, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) signed the charter to establish the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on December 8th, 1985. The SAARC secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16th January 1987.
  • Abul Ahsan (Bangladesh) was the first general secretary of SAARC.
  • Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed (Maldives) is the only woman to have served as SAARC general secretary.
  • There have been two general secretaries from India so far: Kishore Kant Bhargava and Sheel Kant Sharma.

Reference:
http://www.saarc-sec.org/press-releases/Appointment-of-the-New-Secretary-General-01-March-2017/130/