The Petarian Foundation was registered on the 15^th of December 2003 under the Societies Act of 1860, registration no. RS/ICT/427. While the general aims and objectives of the Foundation are broad, the main focus of the Foundation is to serve Pakistan through service to Petaro and Petarians. It is a non-profit and non-political organization.

Petarian Foundation is now a recognized body by the Pakistan Council for Philanthropy, and is thus a tax-exempt organization. Contributions given to Petarian Foundation can be claimed as deductions in income taxes.

The Foundation was born out of a desire by a number of Petarians to recognize the great contribution of our nation and of the college in our lives, and to "contribute back" to Pakistan and Cadet College Petaro from the bounties we have reaped over the years.

Initially, it was thought that the ideal solution should be to start the concept under the aegis of the Petarian Association. However, after deliberations by the Managing Committee of the Petarian Association and a resolution of the AGM held in 2000, a sub-committee headed by Commodore Mirza Ashfaque Beg was formed, which ruled that the Foundation should be created independent of the Association. A letter to this effect was issued by the Association on 9th October 2000.