News Analysis India

Tag: SAARC summit

  • No SAARC summit as no change in situation on ground: India

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit, due in a long time and which was proposed by Pakistan recently, will not be held as there is “no material change in the situation” India clarified.

    Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, said,”We have seen media reports regarding the Pakistan Foreign Minister’s remarks about the SAARC summit. You are aware of the background as to why the SAARC summit has not to been held since 2014.”

    “There has been no material change in the situation since then. Therefore, there is still no consensus that would permit holding of the summit”, Bagchi added.

    Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday had made the remarks on the SAARC summit while addressing a news conference in Islamabad, “Because of India’s obstinacy, this forum is suffering. If India does not want to come, then new means are available. I reiterate our invitation to all SAARC members and Pakistan is willing to host the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad. If India doesn’t want to come, they can attend virtually.”

    Before the 19th Summit was to have been held in Islamabad in November 2016, it was called off as New Delhi pulled out after the terrorist strike in Uri terror and that was blamed on Pakistan-based terrorists. India has been reiterating to Pakistan to act against terrorist groups operating from its soil.

    The other reason keeping the things in limbo is the status of Afghanistan, one of the eight members of the grouping, following the Taliban taking control of the country.

    The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established in 1985. SAARC comprises eight Member States: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

    Decisions at all levels are to be taken on the basis of unanimity; and bilateral and contentious issues are excluded from the deliberations of the Association.

  • Pakistan to invite PM Modi for SAARC summit in Islamabad: Report

    Pakistan Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be invited to Islamabad for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit, Dawn reported.

    Advertising
    The previous summit in 2016 was cancelled after India backed out following the terrorist attack on an Army camp in Uri where 19 soldiers died.

    The last summit of the leaders of the eight SAARC countries was convened in Kathmandu in late 2014. Recalling Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks that if India took one step forward, Pakistan would take two, Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal pitched for dialogue with New Delhi to solve all contentious issues.

    “We fought a war with India, relations cannot be fixed quickly,” Faisal said. So far, India’s refusal to engage Pakistan unless Islamabad addressed its concerns on cross-border terrorism has remained a sticky issue for holding the 19th SAARC summit.

    SAARC Summits are usually held biennially hosted by a member state in alphabetical order. The member state hosting the summit assumes the Chair of the Association. Besides India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the 2016 Islamabad meet. The Maldives and Sri Lanka are the seventh and eighth members of the initiative.