Which of the following countries was NOT among the seven original founding members of SAARC in 1985?

The correct answer is Afghanistan. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was formally established on 8 December 1985 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with seven founding members: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives. Afghanistan was not part of this original grouping and joined SAARC only much later, at the organisation's 14th summit held in New Delhi in 2007, becoming its eighth and, so far, final member. This chronological detail, the gap of more than two decades between SAARC's founding and Afghanistan's accession, is precisely why Afghanistan is the correct exception here rather than a founding member. Bangladesh is incorrect as the 'NOT a founder' answer because it was, in fact, one of the seven original signatories in 1985, and Dhaka itself was the host city where the SAARC Charter was adopted. Bhutan is incorrect for the same reason: it was a founding member in 1985 alongside its Himalayan neighbours India and Nepal. Nepal is likewise incorrect because it too was among the original seven founders and has hosted the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu since the organisation's establishment. A very common exam confusion is treating today's eight-member SAARC as if it always had eight founding members, causing candidates to overlook that Afghanistan's membership is a comparatively recent addition rather than part of the original 1985 charter. The revision takeaway is a simple memory anchor: the original seven founders can be grouped as 'India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives,' with Afghanistan added only in 2007 to make the present total of eight.