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Context

• Academicians and intellectuals from across the world have written to foreign ministers of eight member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) over the recent suspension of four faculty members at the SAARC-administered South Asian University (SAU).

South Asian University (SAU)

About

• South Asian University (SAU) is an international university sponsored by the eight Member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
• The eight countries are: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Commencement

• The university started admitting students in 2010, at a temporary campus at Akbar Bhawan, India.

Campus

• Since February 2023, the University is running on its permanent campus at Maidan Garhi in South Delhi, India.

Recognition

• The degrees of the university are recognized by all the member nations of the SAARC according to an inter-governmental agreement signed by the foreign ministers of the eight SAARC member states.
• South Asian University attracts students predominantly from all the eight SAARC countries, although students from other continents also attend.

Quota system

• There is a country quota system for admission of students. Each year SAU conducts admission tests at various centers in the eight countries.

READ ABOUT SAARC:

https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/saarc

https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/reclaiming-saarc-from-the-ashes-of-2020

IMPORTANT ARTICLE ON SAARC: https://www.india.com/opinion/7-reasons-why-saarc-could-not-create-a-global-influence-and-what-it-needs-to-do-5382863/

PRACTICE QUESTION Q. The political will and pro-active approach of the South Asian leaders to resolve internal and bilateral issues through peaceful negotiations is the key and would provide the much-desired springboard to implement peace, harmony and achieve economic integration through SAARC association. Comment.

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/sau-faculty-members-suspension-500-scholars-write-to-saarc-8818582/