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Bhutan has nominated Dasho Sonam Topgay for the post of secretary general of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), as incumbent Secretary General Md Golam Sarwar of Bangladesh is set to complete his three-year term at the end of October.
Topgay’s appointment requires the consensus of all seven other member states of the eight-member regional bloc.
Under SAARC’s established alphabetical rotation system, it is now Bhutan’s turn to nominate the next secretary general.
The matter is expected to be discussed at a SAARC meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month, where member states may try to reach a consensus on the appointment, a diplomatic source told UNB.
SAARC comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The regional grouping has remained largely inactive, with no summit held for more than a decade. Its 18th summit took place in Kathmandu, Nepal, on November 26-27, 2014.
At the summit, member states welcomed Pakistan’s offer to host the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad in 2016. However, the summit was later postponed after India withdrew following the Uri terror attack.
The prolonged stalemate has prevented the bloc from holding its highest-level meeting since 2014.
