Groupings/Multilaterals

SAARC

est 1985 in Dhaka; Afghanistan joined in 2007

SAFTA

launched in 2006

Last SAARC Summit

18th, held in Nepal; current chair is Pak, 2016 summit was cancelled after Uri

SAARC Members

India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Afghanistan, Bhutan

BIMSTEC Members

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand

BIMSTEC

est 1997 as BIST-EC with B'desh, India, SL, Thailand; Myanmar added in Dec 1997; Nepal and Bhutan in 2004

BRICS

BRIC coined in 2001; BRICS in 2010 after the admission of South Africa; BRICS is an expansion of RIC

BRICS Members

Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa

BRICS 2.0

expanded during the 15th Johannesburg Summit, 2023 to include Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE

Commonwealth of Nations

56 member states; formally constituted by the London Declaration of 1949

Commonwealth of Independent States

founded in 1991 following the breakup of USSR with the Alma-Ata Protocol

Ukraine ended participation in 2018

Georgia withdrew in 2008, following the Russo-Georgian War

East Asia Summit

ASEAN+18, since 2011

EAS Members

ASEAN, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea, USA

ASEAN

preceded by ASA (Thailand, Philippines, Federation of Malaya), formed in 1961; ASEAN founded in 1967

ASEAN Members

Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam

ASEAN Regional Forum

established in 1993, chaired by the ASEAN Chair; cooperation includes strategic, security, and defense dimensions

ARF Members

ASEAN, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, DPRK, EU, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, PNG, South Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, US

G4

India, Brazil, Germany, Japan - countries that support a permanent UNSC seat for each other

G20

founded in 1999 as FM and Central Bank Gov forum; elevated to leader's level in 2008

G20 Members

USA, UK, Italy, Germany, France, Australia, Turkey, Brazil, India, South Africa, Indonesia, Japan, Argentina, Mexico, EU, African Union, Canada, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, AU

G77

135 developing countries' coalition at the UN; founded in 1964 by 77 NAM countries

SCO

established by China and Russia in 2001, successor to Shanghai Five (1996)

SCO Members

China, India (2017), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan (2017), Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran (2023)

SCO-RATS

SCO-Regional Antiterrorist Structure, formed in 2004

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue

first initiated in 2007 by Shinzo Abe; 2021; USA, India, Australia, Japan; Indo-Pacific; a security forum

IORA Members

Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE, Yemen

IORA

established in 1997; alternatively IORA-RC

Pacific Islands Forum

founded as South Pacific Forum in 1971; renamed to PIF in 1999

FIPIC

Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation, developed in 2014 - India + 14 Pacific Islands countries

OIC

founded in 1969; 57 members; 14th summit in Mecca, 2019

Arab League

formed in Cairo, 1945 with 6 members; now has 22 members

GCC

1981; Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE

G7

founded in 1973, first summit as G6 in 1975; G7 from G8 after Russian expulsion in 2014

G7 members

USA, UK, Italy, France, Japan, Germany, Canada, EU

OPEC

founded in 1960 in Baghdad to enable oil-producing countries to collectively influence the oil markets

ISA

proposed by India in 2015 at UNFCCC Paris; a treaty-based pledge to switch to and utilise solar power; 120+ members;

CDRI

proposed by India at UN Climate Action Summit in 2019; to promote research and knowledge sharing in infrastructure

India in ASEAN

a Sectoral Partner of the ASEAN in 1992,

Dialogue Partner in 1996 and Summit Level Partner in 2002; ARF; ASEAN-India strategic partnership, 2012

joined ARF in 1996

Mekong-Ganga Cooperation

launched 2000 at Laos

India and five ASEAN countries, namely, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam for cooperation in tourism, culture, education, as well as transport and communications

Mekong Ganga Cooperation's initial name

Ganga Suvarnabhumi Programme (GMSP)

Organisation of African Unity

est 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;

an organisation representing states across Africa dedicated to improving the life of Africans

disbanded July 2002 by Thabo Mbeki (SA)

African Union

organization formed in 2002 to promote unity among African states and to foster development and end poverty

55 member states

Current AU Chair

Azali Assoumani, since Feb 2023

from Comoros

Organisation of American States

founded 1948; 35 members, HQ'd in Washington; for cooperation among the American countries

est the Inter-American Bank

Cuba in OAS

suspended in 1962; reinstated in 2009

OAS Chair

Luis Almagro is the 10th Secretary General since 2015

G7 Chair

Italy

Latest G7 Summit

Hiroshima, 19-21 May 2023

BBIN countries

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal; for the development of the other three landlocked countries

BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement

signed 2015; to promote safe, economical efficient and environmentally sound road transport in the sub-region and will further help each country in creating an institutional mechanism for regional integration. BBIN countries benefit from mutual cross border movement of passenger and goods for overall economic development of the region

Morocco

left OAU in 1984 after the body recognised the independence of Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara; rejoined AU in 2017

IBSA

India, Brazil and South Africa; formalised as the IBSA Dialogue Forum in 2006 in Brasilia

IBSA Chair

Brazil

11th IBSA Trilateral Ministerial Commission Meeting

23 Sept 2023; sidelines of UNGA

AUKUS

Australia, UK and USA signed military deal to control China's expansion into the South China Sea.

Colombo Security Conclave

formed in 2011 as a trilateral maritime security grouping of India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

CSC members

India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius; Seychelles and Bangladesh as observers

latest IORA observer

Saudi Arabia, added in the 2023 IORA Summit held in Sri Lanka in Sept 2023

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Formed in 1981, the GCC promotes cooperation between its member states in the fields of economy and industry. These member states include Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The GCC is a member of FATF, although its individual members are not.

NATO

an international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security

Warsaw Pact

An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO, signed in 1955

World Bank Group

IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA, ICSID

IMF

International Monetary Fund//a United Nations agency to promote trade by increasing the exchange stability of the major currencies; est 1945 at the Bretton Woods Conference in D.C.

Non-Aligned Movement

Bandung Conference - 1955; formalised in 1961; founding members: India, Egypt, Indonesia, Ghana, Yugoslavia

last MGC meeting

12th senior officials meeting, held virtually in 2020

CEPEA

Japan-led proposal for a FTA in southeast Asia, among the EAS countries

proposed in 2006

RCEP

proposed in 2011 at Bali’s ASEAN Summit

finalised in 2020

ASEAN, China, Australia, NZ, Japan, Korea — total 15 members

CPTPP

aka TPP11

signed in 2018 in Chile

APEC

21 member economies of the Pacific Rim

came together in 1989; HQ’d at Singapore

BRICS 2023 summit

Johannesburg, SA

SCO 2023 Summit

virtually, hosted by India

APEC Summit 2023

Nov 2023, San Francisco

BIMSTEC latest Summit

2022, virtually, Sri Lanka

IORA Summit 2023`

council of minister’s meeting, Colombo

ASEAN, ARF, EAS Summits 2023

Jakarta

Arab League summit 2023

May, Jeddah

Quad 2023 summit

May, Hiroshima

G7 Summit 2023

Hiroshima

G7 Summit 2022

Schloss Elmau, Germany

G77 Summit 2023

Cuba

NAM summit 2024

Kampala, Uganda