INDIA

INDIA / भारत.

First South Asian Regional Cooperation Meeting.
Map of South Asian region.
First stamp in a set of 2, issued on 08.12.1985.
Face value: 1 Indian rupee.
Printing: Photogravure.
Printed by Security Printing Press, Nasik.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 1038.
- Scott No. 1104.
- StampWorld No. 1041.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1172.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 853.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Association was founded in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 8 December 1985 (as this stamp commemorates) by seven states (Afghanistan joined in 2005). Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The organization promotes development of economic and regional integration. It launched the South Asian Free Trade Area in 2006. The SAARC maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the United Nations as an observer and has developed links with multilateral entities, including the European Union.