Context: The Delhi High Court stated that the South Asian University (SAU) holds the status of an international organisation with 'privileges and immunities,' and the Indian government does not exert any control over its functioning and administration.
About South Asian University (SAU)
- It is an international university sponsored by the eight Member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The eight countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
- The university started admitting students in 2010 at a temporary campus at Akbar Bhawan, India.
- Since February 2023, the University is running on its permanent campus at Maidan Garhi in South Delhi.
- As of 2023, SAU offered Master's and MPhil/PhD programs in Applied Mathematics, Biotechnology, Computer Science, Economics, International Relations, Legal Studies and Sociology.
- The degrees of the university are recognized by all the member nations of the SAARC according to an inter-governmental agreement signed by the foreign ministers of the eight SAARC member states.
- It attracts students from the eight SAARC countries, although students from other continents also attend.
- There is a country quota system for the admission of students. SAU conducts admission tests annually at various centres in eight countries.
- At the 13th SAARC Summit held in Dhaka in November 2005, India proposed the establishment of a South Asian University.
- The Inter-governmental Agreement for the Establishment of the South Asian University" was signed at the 14th SAARC Summit.
- As per the agreement, India was to bear the entire expenses of building the permanent campus of the SAU with the member countries.