BY NAVEENSANCHAR ONLINE
Kathmandu, The South Asian University (SAU) – a flagship project of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) – convened Eleventh Meeting of its Governing Board on 18-19 December
2023 in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The Governing Board Members from the Member States, and representatives from the SAARC
Secretariat and SAU attended the two-day Meeting in Kathmandu.
H. E. Mr. Md. Golam Sarwar, Secretary General of SAARC, addressed the Inaugural Session of
the Meeting as Chief Guest. In his address, Ambassador Sarwar expressed gratitude to the
Government of India for hosting the University in New Delhi and facilitating its smooth
functioning since its establishment. He thanked the Chairperson of the Governing Board for
convening the Meeting and the Members for making it convenient to travel to Kathmandu to attend
the Meeting. He also thanked the previous and present Chairpersons and Members of the
Governing Board and Office-bearers of the University for their remarkable contributions to bring
the University to where it stands today. “One of the objectives of SAARC as outlined in its Charter
is to promote welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life. This can
best be achieved through education. The establishment of the South Asian University in New Delhi
in 2010 is, therefore, considered as one of the significant accomplishments of SAARC,”
Ambassador Sarwar asserted. He further said, “As the Centre of Excellence, the University holds
great potential to foster socio-economic and cultural collaboration among the South Asian
countries.”
Prof. Dev Raj Adhikari, Chairman, University Grants Commission, Nepal, chaired the Meeting.
In his opening remarks, Prof. Adhikari welcomed the participants to the Meeting. He appreciated
the role of SAU in facilitating regional cooperation in higher education and research. He also
thanked the previous Governing Board members for their hard work in making SAU a reputable
platform for teaching, learning and research in the South Asia region.
The Governing Board decided to appoint Prof. K. K. Agrawal from India as the new President of
SAU. The Board also agreed to transfer the Chairmanship of the Governing Board to Pakistan,
after Nepal, on the principle of rotation in alphabetical order of the Member States, besides
endorsing SAU’s budget for 2023-24 and academic calendar for 2024-25.
The Board also reviewed the progress and achievements of SAU since its last Meeting. It
appreciated the untiring efforts of the Acting President, Acting Vice President, and Acting
Registrar of SAU for their active role in successfully managing the affairs of the University during
the transitional period.
As SAARC’s Centre of Excellency, the South Asian University is a unique seat of learning,
research and creativity for the citizenry of the region, offering state-of-the-art learning and research
facilities with a world-class faculty drawn from within and outside the region. Currently, the
University has five Faculties with 7 departments, offering both Masters’ and PhD programmes to
around 600 students under the guidance of as many as 55 faculty members. Around 2000 students
and research fellows have been educated at the University thus far.
