representative of which country elected as secretary general of saarc in march 2017
The Secretary -- General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, is the head of the SAARC Secretariat, which is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. The SAARC is an economic and geopolitical union between the eight South Asian member nations, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Secretary-General is appointed for a three-year term by election by a council of Ministers from member states. The Secretary-General is assisted by eight deputies, one from each nation, who also reside in Kathmandu. The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987 by the Bangladeshi diplomat Abul Ahsan, who was its first Secretary-General, and was inaugurated by King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal. Since its creation, its member nations have contributed to a total of thirteen General Secretaries. Pakistan's Diplomat Amjad Hussain B. Sial is the current Secretary-General, having assumed charge on March 1, 2017.