Pak postpones Saarc summit; now Lanka also pulls out

With Sri Lanka too joining India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan to underline that the situation is not conducive for holding the Saarc summit in Pakistan, Islamabad on Friday formally postponed the conclave.

Pakistan, however, stated that it remained committed to hosting the 19th summit of the eight-nation bloc in its capital itself, albeit on later dates. “A new set of dates for holding the 19th Saarc summit in Islamabad will be announced soon, through the chair of the Saarc (Nepal),” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Pakistan government announced, while accusing India of derailing the summit.

“India’s decision to abstain from the summit on the basis of unfounded assumptions on the Uri incident is a futile effort to divert attention of the world from the atrocities by India in Kashmir,” the Pakistan foreign office said.

Pakistan claimed that the spirit of the Saarc charter is “violated” when a member state casts the shadow of its bilateral problems on the multilateral forum for regional cooperation.

Lanka pulls out
Sri Lanka too made it clear on Friday that it shared the view of India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan. “Sri Lanka regrets that the prevailing environment in the region is not conducive for holding the 19th Saarc Summit in Islamabad on November 9 and 10,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Sri Lankan government said in a statement posted on its website on Friday.

“Peace and security are essential elements for the success of meaningful regional cooperation for the benefit of the people of South Asia. As a founding member of Saarc, committed to regional cooperation, Sri Lanka hopes that the steps required to ensuring our region’s peace and security will be taken to create an environment that is conducive for the pursuit of regional cooperation,” the government of the island nation stated.