India trashes Pakistan’s offer to host Saarc summit, angers Islamabad
The summit was scheduled in Islamabad in November 2016 but was cancelled after the September 18 Uri terror attack
Representational photo
Tribune Desk
Publish : 07 Jan 2022, 08:03 PMUpdate : 07 Jan 2022, 08:04 PM
In continuation of their decades-old diplomatic row, archrival India and Pakistan have renewed the crisis; now it emerged centering the hosting of the 19th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).
The fresh spat erupted on Thursday when India dismissed Pakistan’s fresh offer to host the long-pending event which was first scheduled for November, 2016, reports the Hindustan Times.
Delhi said there was no consensus to allow the holding of the meeting.
Reacting to the Indian response, Pakistan’s Foreign Office in a statement on Friday said the obstruction of the Saarc process was an “established fact", according to Dawn.
The last summit of the eight-nation grouping was held in Nepal in November 2014. India and other countries had pulled out of the summit that was to be held in Islamabad in 2016, following the September 18 Uri terror attack that was blamed on Pakistan-based terrorists.
Eighteen Indian soldiers were killed in the attack across the de facto border in Indian-administered Kashmir that separates the countries.
On Monday, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi reiterated his country’s offer to host the summit this year, saying India could attend the meet virtually if it does not wish to participate in-person, reports The Express Tribune.
"Pakistan considers Saarc as an important forum. We are willing to host the 19th Saarc summit and if India has any issue in attending the summit in-person it can join the conference virtually," Qureshi told reporters then.
Reacting to that, Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a regular media briefing on Thursday that they noticed the remarks through media reports.
“You are aware of the background as to why the Saarc Summit has not been held since 2014….There has been no material change in the situation since then. Therefore, there is still no consensus that would permit the holding of the summit,” he added, without giving details.
Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad on Friday said: "Motivated by its partisan reasons, and acting in violation of charter provisions requiring exclusion of bilateral issues, India was responsible for stymieing the 19th Saarc summit scheduled to take place in Pakistan in 2016."
He went on saying that India's "myopic attitude" was rendering a valuable platform for regional cooperation increasingly dysfunctional.
"Pakistan hoped that India would review its self-serving approach and enable the Saarc process to move forward for the progress and prosperity of the peoples of South Asia. For its part, Pakistan remained ready to host the next Saarc summit as soon as the artificial obstacles created in its way were removed," he added.
India trashes Pakistan’s offer to host Saarc summit, angers Islamabad
The summit was scheduled in Islamabad in November 2016 but was cancelled after the September 18 Uri terror attack
In continuation of their decades-old diplomatic row, archrival India and Pakistan have renewed the crisis; now it emerged centering the hosting of the 19th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).
The fresh spat erupted on Thursday when India dismissed Pakistan’s fresh offer to host the long-pending event which was first scheduled for November, 2016, reports the Hindustan Times.
Delhi said there was no consensus to allow the holding of the meeting.
Reacting to the Indian response, Pakistan’s Foreign Office in a statement on Friday said the obstruction of the Saarc process was an “established fact", according to Dawn.
The last summit of the eight-nation grouping was held in Nepal in November 2014. India and other countries had pulled out of the summit that was to be held in Islamabad in 2016, following the September 18 Uri terror attack that was blamed on Pakistan-based terrorists.
Eighteen Indian soldiers were killed in the attack across the de facto border in Indian-administered Kashmir that separates the countries.
On Monday, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi reiterated his country’s offer to host the summit this year, saying India could attend the meet virtually if it does not wish to participate in-person, reports The Express Tribune.
"Pakistan considers Saarc as an important forum. We are willing to host the 19th Saarc summit and if India has any issue in attending the summit in-person it can join the conference virtually," Qureshi told reporters then.
Reacting to that, Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a regular media briefing on Thursday that they noticed the remarks through media reports.
“You are aware of the background as to why the Saarc Summit has not been held since 2014….There has been no material change in the situation since then. Therefore, there is still no consensus that would permit the holding of the summit,” he added, without giving details.
Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad on Friday said: "Motivated by its partisan reasons, and acting in violation of charter provisions requiring exclusion of bilateral issues, India was responsible for stymieing the 19th Saarc summit scheduled to take place in Pakistan in 2016."
He went on saying that India's "myopic attitude" was rendering a valuable platform for regional cooperation increasingly dysfunctional.
"Pakistan hoped that India would review its self-serving approach and enable the Saarc process to move forward for the progress and prosperity of the peoples of South Asia. For its part, Pakistan remained ready to host the next Saarc summit as soon as the artificial obstacles created in its way were removed," he added.
Topics: