Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

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Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
Incumbent Md. Golam Sarwar since 25 October 2023
Residence	Kathmandu, Nepal
Appointer	Council of Ministers of the SAARC nations
Term length	Three years
Formation	SAARC Charter: 16 January 1987
First holder	Abul Ahsan
Website	saarc-sec.org

Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is head of a SAARC Secretariat, which is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal.^[1] SAARC is an economic and geopolitical union between the eight South Asian member nations, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.^[2] Secretary-General is appointed for a three-year term by election by a council of Ministers from member states. Secretary-General is assisted by eight deputies, one from each nation, who also reside in Kathmandu.^[1] SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987 by Bangladeshi diplomat Abul Ahsan, who was its first Secretary-General, and was inaugurated by King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal. Since its creation, its member nations have contributed to a total of fourteenth General Secretaries. Golam Sarwar from Bangladesh is the current Secretary-General of SAARC, having assumed charge on 4 March 2023.^{[citation needed]}

Since the Secretary General is Selected from the member countries of SAARC in alphabetical order, it was Afghanistan's turn after Srilanka. But as the Afghanistan has been ruling by Taliban and International Community doesn't recognise the Taliban as the authentic government, Afghanistan's turn has been skipped for this time and the next heir to the post of the Secretary General of the Organization in alphabetical order has been selected the Diplomat from Bangladesh.