Afghanistan Bamyan province was officially introduced as the cultural capital of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for the year 2015.

The second vice president and second deputy of the executive officer arrived in Bamyan province earlier today, unveiled a special statue for the event and are said to consider the introduction of Bamyan as SAARC cultural capital respect for the history and ancient culture of Afghanistan.

Bamyan locates in the central highlands of the country and its terrain is mountainous or semi-mountainous.

The name “Bamyan” can be translated as “The Place of Shining Light”. In antiquity, central Afghanistan was strategically placed to thrive from the Silk Road caravans which criss-crossed the region trading between the Roman Empire, China, Central and South Asia.

Bamyan was a stopping off point for many travelers where elements of Greek and Buddhist art were combined into a unique classical style, known as Greco-Buddhist art.

“The extremists that destroyed Buda now aim the orient countries, the world’s countries should prevent this extremism,” Muhammad Muhaqiq, second deputy of CEO said.

The idea of regional cooperation in South Asia was first mooted in May 1980. The Foreign Secretaries of the seven countries met for the first time in Colombo in April 1981.

The Committee of the Whole, which met in Colombo in August 1981, identified five broad areas for regional cooperation. New areas of cooperation were added in the following years.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established when its Charter was formally approved on 8 December 1985 by the Heads of State or Government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Afghanistan became a member of SAARC during the Fourteenth SAARC Summit held in Delhi, India in April 2007. Until 2009 China, Japan, Republic of Korea, USA, Iran, Mauritius, Australia, Myanmar and the European Union have joined SAARC as Observers.

SAARC provides a platform for the peoples of South Asia to work together in a spirit of friendship, trust and understanding.

It aims to promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life through accelerated economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region.

During the Fifteenth Summit, the Heads of State or Government emphasized the importance of maintaining the momentum through clear links of continuity between the work already underway and future activities and recognized the need for SAARC to further strengthen its focus on developing and implementing regional and sub-regional projects in the agreed areas on a priority basis.

They also renewed their resolve for collective regional efforts to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development and emphasized on key issues like telecommunication, energy, climate change, transport, poverty alleviation, science and technology, trade, education, food security and tourism.

Cooperation in SAARC is based on respect for the five principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political independence, non-interference in internal affairs of the member states and mutual benefit.

Regional cooperation is seen as a complement to the bilateral and multilateral relations of SAARC Member States.

Reported by Nasrat Parsa