SAARC chief urges regional unity to boost South Asian cooperation

Friday June 26, 2026 10:45 am ECONOMYNEXT – SAARC member states should work together more to overcome difficulties facing the regional body and to re-ignite it, its top official has told a forum. SAARC Secretary General Golam Sarwar said “there remains great opportunity for regional unity to take center stage,” at a forum in Colombo on ‘Reigniting SAARC: Achievements, Challenges and Way Forward’ by the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS). While immediate bilateral priorities often demand close attention, he said, momentum is emerging as leadership across the region works to keep broader cooperation at the heart of the conversation. “When member nations champion this collective vision together, they can successfully elevate the dialogue around shared progress, ensuring that deep, meaningful regional integration remains a vibrant and lasting priority for all.” The RCSS event sought to examine the current state and future potential of SAARC and regional cooperation within South Asia. Sarwar, who is on a visit to Sri Lanka, detailed the contributions of SAARC over nearly four decades, and its role as an “irreplaceable beacon of hope” for the region’s 2 billion people. He outlined ongoing activities of specialized regional centres, highlighting the SAARC Cultural Centre in Sri Lanka as a vital node of technical expertise driving a practical, bottom-up approach to regional problem-solving. The Secretary General said that nothing epitomizes the spirit of “knowledge without borders” more powerfully than the establishment of the South Asian University (SAU). He pointed to cooperation taking place among states at the functional level, such as a recent ministerial conference in Colombo. SAARC is the region’s premier vehicle for cooperation, Sarwar said, urging memebr states to unite to build a “much stronger, more empowered, and thoroughly revitalized SAARC.” The subsequent dialogue that followed included the participation of Esala Weerakoon, former SAARC Secretary General; Gamani Keerawella; Waruna Wilpatha, Director at the SAARC Secretariat; Varuni Muthukumarana, Director General (South Asia) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and former Director of the SAARC Secretariat; and Kaushalya Kumarasinghe, Director of the SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC), and diplomats, academics, policy experts and media personnel. (Colombo/Jun26/2026)