New Secretary General of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation Golam Sarwar of Bangladesh assumed duties this week, according to the Saarc Secretariat. Sarwar is the 15th secretary general of Saarc and the third secretary general from Bangladesh.

As per the Saarc tradition of leading the secretariat on the basis of alphabetical order, it was Afghanistan’s turn to recommend the new secretary general.

But as the new regime in Kabul is yet to be recognised by the Saarc member states, Bangladesh got the chance to recommend the new secretary general after Sri Lankan veteran diplomat Esala Ruwan Weerakoon completed his tenure in March.

Addressing the staff of the secretariat at a welcome reception, Sarwar conveyed his gratitude to the member states for the opportunity given to him to serve the association.

He further emphasised the need to raise the profile of the regional body and highlighted the need to engage actively and effectively to serve the member states to accomplish the entrusted important mandates to the secretariat, according to a statement issued by the secretariat on Saturday.

“In this regard, he sought continued support from the member states.” reads the statement.

Sarwar is a career diplomat who joined the Bangladeshi foreign service in 1991. He has served extensively in different capacities both at home and abroad.

He earlier served as Bangladesh ambassador to Malaysia, Oman and Sweden, with concurrently accredited to Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. He was the Consul General of Bangladesh in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and worked in various Bangladeshi missions such as Yangon, Kuala Lumpur, Kathmandu and Washington DC.

In his long diplomatic career, Sarwar represented Bangladesh on numerous occasions in various regional and international forums.