Ref: 2026/PR/188
His Excellency Md. Golam Sarwar, Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), paid a farewell call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Her Excellency Iruthisham Adam, today. His Excellency Md Golam Sarwar is visiting the Maldives from 9 to 12 August 2026, as part of his farewell visits to the Member States. Secretary General Ambassador Sarwar paid a courtesy call on His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, President of the Republic of Maldives this morning prior to the call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
During the meeting held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Iruthisham expressed appreciation for Secretary General Ambassador Sarwar for his leadership and dedicated service over the past three years. The Minister also expressed appreciation for his significant contributions to advancing regional collaboration and partnership across South Asia through technical level meetings, expert level engagements and sectoral activities implemented under the approved Calendar of Activities.
Reflecting on the collective efforts of the SAARC Member States in responding to the uncertainties of the evolving global landscape, Minister Iruthisham underscored the importance of strengthening regional cooperation on shared priorities, including environment and climate change, health, energy, food security, trade, tourism and connectivity, digital cooperation, access to finance, and enhancing people-to-people as well as youth connections across South Asia.
Minister Iruthisham recalling the directive of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, to actively engage with Member States in advancing efforts to revitalise the Association and facilitate the convening of the SAARC Summit, reaffirmed the Maldives' readiness to support dialogue aimed at rebuilding confidence, fostering consensus, and strengthening regional cooperation.
Secretary General Ambassador Sarwar thanked the Government of Maldives for its active engagement with SAARC and for the continued support extended to the SAARC Secretariat. Minister Iruthisham and Secretary General Ambassador Sarwar exchanged views on ongoing efforts by the Member States to revitalise SAARC and emphasised the importance of resuming ministerial and senior officials' meetings, by fully activating existing institutional mechanisms, and identifying new areas of collaboration that would advance regional initiatives contributing to lasting peace, stability, and prosperity in South Asia. Both Minister Iruthisham and Secretary General Ambassador Sarwar reaffirmed their commitment to working closely with the Member States to restore SAARC's momentum and enable it to fulfil its role as the principal platform for regional dialogue and cooperation in South Asia.
Secretary General Ambassador Sarwar is the Fifteenth Secretary General of SAARC, and his three-year term will conclude at the end of October 2026. In accordance with the SAARC procedures and guidelines governing the appointment of the Secretary General, the position rotates among Member States in alphabetical order. Accordingly, the next Secretary General of SAARC will be nominated by the Kingdom of Bhutan.
Minister Iruthisham was accompanied by Foreign Secretary Her Excellency Fathimath Inaya, Secretary Her Excellency Aminath Shabeena, Minister of State, Her Excellency Dr. Mariyam Zulfa, Additional Secretary Ms. Aminath Abdulla Didi, Assistant Director Ms. Fathimath Liusha and Political Director Mr. Mohamed Azkan Ashraf.
Secretary General Ambassador Sarwar was accompanied by Ms. Shahiya Ali Manik, Director at the Secretariat, from the Maldives.
Ends