The foreign ministry has decided to appoint  Bangladesh high commissioner in Malaysia Golam Sarwar as the next secretary general of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

The candidate nominated by Bangladesh would be declared officially after final approval from prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Diplomatic sources informed Prothom Alo about this on Thursday.

Sources said the ministry took the decision to appoint Golam Sarwar while many former and current diplomats showed their interest in the post.

Bangladeshi diplomats Abul Ahsan and QAMA Rahim held the SAARC secretary general post in the past.

An informed source said a summary for approval of the PM has been sent proposing the name of Golam Sarwar for the post. The SAARC secretariat would be informed once the proposal gets the PM’s nod.

He said the opinion or approval of other member countries are not needed to this end. The person selected by Bangladesh would be the next secretary general.

Career diplomat Golam Sarwar joined foreign ministry in 1990 as cadre officer of 10th Bangladesh Civil Service. He served the ministry in various capacities in Yangon, Kathmandu, Washington DC and Jeddah and was Bangladesh ambassador in Sweden.  He was also the director general of South-East Asia wing of the ministry.

Upon completing post-graduation from Dhaka University’s accounting department, Golam Sarwar achieved a diploma from Germany. He did a senior executive course from Near East-South Asia Center for Strategic Studies in the US.

The incumbent general secretary, Esala Ruwan Weerakoon of Sri Lanka, is set to complete his term on 28 February.

The post was supposed to be filled by Afghanistan this time as per alphabetical order, but six SAARC member countries expressed their dissent citing unstable political situation in the country and agreed on appointment of the post from Bangladesh.