South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which was established in 1985 at Dhaka owes its birth to the pioneering initiative taken by the Late President Zia Ur Rahman of Bangladesh. It was initially a group of seven South Asian countries, viz., India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives, and expanded to include Afghanistan as the eighth member in the SAARC Summit held in Dhaka on November 13, 2005. The assumption of SAARC was that a common culture, civilization and heritage among all the seven post colonial states of South Asia would bring about unity and cooperation among them, gradually brining about social and economic development in the region.