Which statement about the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is not correct?

Introduction / Context:
SAARC, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, is a key regional organisation that connects the major countries of South Asia for cooperation in economic, social and cultural fields. General knowledge examinations often ask about its headquarters, summits and observer countries. This question tests your ability to identify which commonly quoted statement about SAARC is factually not correct, so you must check each option carefully rather than guessing.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• We are given four factual statements about SAARC and asked to find the one that is not correct.
• Headquarters location of SAARC is asked indirectly.
• Information about the first SAARC Summit venue is included.
• The place of the eighteenth SAARC Summit is mentioned.
• One option talks about observer status of China in SAARC.

Concept / Approach:
To answer this type of question, you must know a few basic facts: where the SAARC Secretariat is located, where the first summit was held, where the eighteenth summit was organised and which countries enjoy observer status. The approach is to verify each statement against standard reference facts. The incorrect statement will be the only one that contradicts these facts, and that becomes the correct option to mark in the examination.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that the SAARC Secretariat is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal, so the statement in option A is factually correct. Step 2: Remember that the first SAARC Summit was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in December 1985, which makes option C correct. Step 3: The eighteenth SAARC Summit was also held in Nepal, in Kathmandu, in 2014, so option D is correct. Step 4: China does have observer status in SAARC, but it is not the only observer. Other observers include countries and groupings such as the European Union, Japan, South Korea, the United States and others. Therefore the claim that China is the only observer is wrong. Step 5: Since options A, C and D match standard facts, the only not correct statement is option B.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can verify your reasoning quickly by listing the observer entities of SAARC, which include several countries and regional organisations. Once you see that the observer list is longer than just China, it becomes obvious that option B cannot be accurate. At the same time, standard questions in many exams repeatedly confirm that Kathmandu hosts the SAARC Secretariat and that Dhaka hosted the first summit, which supports options A and C. The eighteenth summit location in Nepal is also widely reported, confirming option D as a correct statement.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A is wrong as an answer because it is actually a correct fact about SAARC headquarters and therefore does not satisfy the question, which asks for a not correct statement.
Option C is wrong as an answer because Dhaka did host the first SAARC Summit, so this is again a correct statement, not the incorrect one.
Option D is wrong as an answer because the eighteenth SAARC Summit was indeed held in Nepal, so it also does not match the requirement of being factually incorrect.

Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to focus only on membership and forget that SAARC also allows some non member states and organisations to participate as observers. Another pitfall is to assume that China is unique in many regional formats and therefore believe the phrase "only country with observer status" without checking. Candidates may also misremember the summit numbers or mix up the locations of different summits, which can lead to eliminating the wrong options. Always cross check basic organisational facts like headquarters and founding summit locations when solving such questions.

Final Answer:
The only statement that is factually not correct is China is the only country with observer status in SAARC.