Recognizing the importance of information exchange and the need to bridge the huge information gap that exists among the member countries of the region; the heads of state/government of SAARC nations approved in principle, the idea of establishing a SAARC Documentation Centre (SDC) at the second SAARC Summit in Bangalore in November 1989.

The Summit also envisaged the evolution of a network comprising the SDC, the seven National Focal Points (NFPs) each situated at the concerned SAARC Member States; the SAARC secretariat and other regional information centres like the SAARC Agricultural Information Centre (SAIC) and the SAARC Tuberculosis Centre (STC)

Pursuant to the decision of the 13th Session of the Council of Ministers at Dhaka in December 1993, the SDC was set up at National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR) (erstwhile INSDOC), New Delhi, India which has been operational since June, 1994.