Forty years ago today, on December 7th, 1985 (October 26th, 1985 in the lunar calendar), the summit of seven South Asian countries opened. This meeting announced the formal establishment of a regional cooperation organization. On December 7, 1985, the regional cooperation summit of seven South Asian countries was grandly opened at the Parliament Building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In the history of South Asia, this is the first time that the heads of seven countries have sat together to discuss major regional cooperation events. The main agenda of this South Asian Summit is to set up the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, a formal organization for regional cooperation in South Asia, and adopt the charter of the Association and a joint declaration. The summit was attended by Bangladeshi President Ershad, Bhutanese King Wangchuck, Indian Prime Minister Ra Gandhi, Maldivian President Gayoom, Nepalese King Birendra, Pakistani President Zia Haq and Sri Lankan President Jayewardena. President Ershad presided over the opening ceremony and was elected as the president of this summit. The heads of seven countries delivered speeches successively at the meeting. They agreed that the meeting of the heads of seven South Asian countries is a historic event in the history of South Asia, which is conducive to promoting regional cooperation and mutual trust and understanding. They also agreed that although South Asian countries have various differences and differences, they are facing common problems and have a unanimous desire to cooperate. They expressed their belief that regional cooperation in South Asia would be promising. Bangladeshi President Ershad said, "It is of great significance for the leaders of the seven countries to sit together and have a useful dialogue based on the basic needs and demands of the people of all countries. Such dialogue will be the basic form of understanding and cooperation." He said that the seven heads of state sitting together shows that South Asian cooperation represents the historical trend and that South Asian people can cope with the challenges of the times. Pakistani President Zia Haq pointed out that "the past experiences of our people, the common problems faced by our countries and the needs of the development of the current times make us obliged to take advantage of the opportunity of this summit to accelerate the realization of the goals of peace, cooperation and coordination among our countries". He said that South Asian countries are facing common problems and similar challenges, and they all need to eradicate poverty, hunger, disease and ignorance. Developing regional cooperation can speed up this process. Indian Prime Minister Ra Gandhi said, "South Asian regional cooperation points out a path to achieving collective self-reliance. The efforts we have made will strengthen the power of multilateralism and worldwide cooperation". He said, "India welcomes the diversity of South Asia, and we are in favor of the sovereign equality of seven South Asian countries. We can learn and help each other in many ways". Sri Lankan President Jayewardena pointed out that all South Asian countries bear a great responsibility for strengthening regional cooperation. He said, "Once the potential of our cause is fully realized, it will bring immeasurable benefits to our peoples". King wangchuck of Bhutan, President gayoom of Maldives and King birendra of Nepal also emphasized the importance of developing regional cooperation in their speeches. They indicated that they would contribute to building a building of regional cooperation in South Asia. Regional cooperation in South Asia was first initiated by the late President Zia Rahman of Bangladesh in May 1980, and was approved and echoed by the other six countries in South Asia.