REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Membership  8 members  Afghanistan  Bangladesh  Bhutan  Maldives  Nepal  India  Pakistan  Sri lanka

 Established on 8 Dec  17 summits have been held till now.  Pakistan hosted twice ( )  Current secretary general is Mr. Ahmed Saleem from Bangladesh.  China, Myanmar and Russia wants to become members  9 observer states

Objectives Of SAARC  to promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and to improve their quality of life;  to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region  to promote and strengthen selective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia;  to contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another's problem

 to cooperate with international and regional organisations with similar aims and purposes.  to maintain peace in the regionto strengthen cooperation with other developing countries;  to strengthen cooperation among themselves in international forums on matters of common interest

Principles  The principles are as follows  Respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, political equality and independence of all members states  Non-interference in the internal matters is one of its objectives  Cooperation for mutual benefit  All decisions to be taken unanimously and need a quorum of all eight members  All bilateral issues to be kept aside and only multilateral(involving many countries) issues to be discussed without being prejudiced by bilateral issues

Secretariat  The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987  The SAARC Secretariat and Member States observe 8 December as the SAARC Charter Day1.  It is headed by the Secretary General appointed by the Council of Ministers from Member Countries in an alphabetical order for a three-year term.

Council Of Ministers  The Council of Ministers meets twice a year.  Formulation of the policies of the ASSOCIATION  Review of the progress of cooperation under the ASSOCIATION  Decision on new areas of cooperation  Establishment of additional mechanism under the ASSOCIATION as deemed necessary  Decision on other matters of general interest to the ASSOCIATION.

Regional Centres  SAARC Agricultural Centre (SAC), Dhaka  SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC), Dhaka  SAARC Tuberculosis Centre (STC), Kathmandu  SAARC Documentation Centre (SDC), New Delhi  SAARC Human Resources Development Centre (SHRDC), Islamabad

 Political issues unaddressed  SAARC Youth Award  SAARC Award  SAFTA  Free Visa scheme

OIC

 The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is an international organisation consisting of 57 member states. The organisation states that it is "the collective voice of the Muslim world" and works to "safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony international organisation57 member statesMuslim world

 The OIC has a permanent delegation to the United Nations, and is the largest international organisation outside the United Nations.United Nations  After losing the Six-Day War in 1967 Leaders of Muslim nations met in Rabat to establish the OIC on 25 September 1969.Six-Day WarRabat

AIM  The OIC aims to preserve Islamic social and economic values; promote solidarity amongst member states; increase cooperation in social, economic, cultural, scientific, and political areas; uphold international peace and security; and advance education, particularly in the fields of science and technology.

 OIC has collective population of 1.4 billion  Russia and Thailand, sit as Observer StatesRussiaThailand  12 regular sessions and 4 extra ordinary sessions have been convened uptill now.  Pakistan hosted twice( )  Ekmeleddin İ hsano ğ l, a Turkish national is the current Secretary General.

 Islamic summit The largest meeting, attended by the kings and the heads of state and government of the member states, convenes every three years.The Islamic Summit takes policy decisions and provide guidance on all issues pertaining to the realization of the objectives as provided for in the Charter and consider other issues of concern to the Member States and the Ummah.

 Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers It meets once a year to examine a progress report on the implementation of its decisions taken within the framework of the policy defined by the Islamic Summit.  Permanent Secretariat It is the executive organ of the Organisation, entrusted with the implementation of the decisions of the two preceding bodies, and is located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.JeddahSaudi Arabia

 Mere talking shop  Though adopted Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam in1990,but is failed in protecting gross human rights violation against muslims.

ASEAN

 A geo-political and economic organization of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967.geo-politicalSoutheast Asia  21 regular and 4 informal sessions.  ASEAN covers a land area of 4.46 million km², which is 3% of the total land area of Earth, and has a population of approximately 600 million people  Le Luong Minh (Vietnamese)Vietnamese

Single Aviation Market Free trade zone Intra-ASEAN travel ASEAN Media Cooperation,ASEAN Defense Industry Collaboration Education-about 90% literacy rate

SCO

Members  It has six member states.  China  Russia  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Tajikistan and  Uzbekistan  13 summits have been convened till now.the latest in Sep 2013.

 The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental international organization founded in Shanghai on15 June 2001 by six countries.  Its member states cover an area of over 30 million km2, or about three fifths of Eurasia, with a population of billion.  SCO's predecessor, the Shanghai Five mechanism, originated and grew from the endeavor by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

 On the fifth anniversary of the Shanghai Five in June 2001, the heads of state of its members and the President of Uzbekistan met in Shanghai, the birthplace of the mechanism. First they signed a joint declaration admitting Uzbekistan as member of the Shanghai Five mechanism and then jointly issued the Declaration on the Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Purposes of SCO  strengthening mutual trust and good-neighborliness and friendship among member states,  developing their effective cooperation in political affairs, the economy and trade, science and technology, culture, education, energy, transportation, environmental protection and other fields,  working together to maintain regional peace, security and stability,  promoting the creation of a new international political and economic order featuring democracy, justice and rationality.

Principles of SCO  adherence to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,  respect for each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, mutual non-use or threat of use of force,  equality among all member states,  settlement of all questions through consultations,

 non-alignment and no directing against any other country or organization,  opening to the outside world and willingness to carry out all forms of dialogues, exchanges and cooperation with other countries and relevant international or regional organizations.

Institutional Set-Up of SCO  Council of Heads of State  Council of Heads of Government  Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs  Conference of Heads of Agencies  Council of National Coordinators  Secretariat (Dmitry Fedorovich Mezentsev)  Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS)

SCO Cooperation in Various Areas  SCO cooperation has covered wide-ranging areas such as security, the economy, transportation, culture, disaster relief and law enforcement, with security and economic cooperation.  SCO security cooperation focuses on the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism.  Bilateral and multilateral joint anti-terrorism military exercises among member states.

 The SCO was among the first international organizations to advocate explicitly the fight against the three evil forces.On15 June 2001, the day when the SCO was founded, the Shanghai Convention Against Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism was signed, clearly defining terrorism, separatism and extremism for the first time on the international arena.

 The year 2002 saw the establishment of mechanisms for economic and trade as well as transportation ministerial meetings successively as initial attempts to explore avenues of substantive cooperation in trade, investment, transportation, energy and other areas.