<div>Pakistan has opted out of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) satellite project.<br /><br />The move comes even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposal to boost space cooperation among South Asian nations evoked overwhelming support from all other members of the eight-nation bloc.<br /><br />Islamabad conveyed its reluctance to join the project during meetings of the senior diplomats of the member nations of the bloc at Pokhara in Nepal last week. “Pakistan has decided to opt out of the satellite project,” said India’s External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup.<br /><br />Pakistan’s decision to dissociate itself from the project would mean that the satellite could no longer be named the Saarc satellite. New Delhi, however, already mooted an alternative name for the satellite and it was accepted by other countries – Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal.<br /><br />“So it cannot be called a Saarc satellite. It will be a South Asia satellite,” Swarup told journalists in New Delhi. <br /><br />According to the sources, Islamabad’s representatives their counterparts from India and other South Asian nations at Pokhara that Pakistan itself had advanced space technology and had no interest in the satellite, which India had offered to build and launch for the entire region. <br /><br />Modi mooted the idea during his maiden visit to the Indian Space Research Organisation’s launch station at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on June 30 – just a few weeks after he took over as prime minister on May 26, 2014.<br /><br />Later, while addressing the 18th Saarc summit in November 2014, Modi announced India’s offer to build and launch a satellite, which would benefit all member nations. He said that the satellite should be launched by the end of 2016.<br /><br />The legal framework for the satellite was laid in September 2015 when Sri Lanka signed the first orbit frequency coordination agreement with India.<br /><br />New Delhi’s offer to build and launch the satellite is perceived as a strategic move by India to counter China’s plan to boost its space cooperation in with South Asian nations.</div>
<div>Pakistan has opted out of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) satellite project.<br /><br />The move comes even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposal to boost space cooperation among South Asian nations evoked overwhelming support from all other members of the eight-nation bloc.<br /><br />Islamabad conveyed its reluctance to join the project during meetings of the senior diplomats of the member nations of the bloc at Pokhara in Nepal last week. “Pakistan has decided to opt out of the satellite project,” said India’s External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup.<br /><br />Pakistan’s decision to dissociate itself from the project would mean that the satellite could no longer be named the Saarc satellite. New Delhi, however, already mooted an alternative name for the satellite and it was accepted by other countries – Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal.<br /><br />“So it cannot be called a Saarc satellite. It will be a South Asia satellite,” Swarup told journalists in New Delhi. <br /><br />According to the sources, Islamabad’s representatives their counterparts from India and other South Asian nations at Pokhara that Pakistan itself had advanced space technology and had no interest in the satellite, which India had offered to build and launch for the entire region. <br /><br />Modi mooted the idea during his maiden visit to the Indian Space Research Organisation’s launch station at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on June 30 – just a few weeks after he took over as prime minister on May 26, 2014.<br /><br />Later, while addressing the 18th Saarc summit in November 2014, Modi announced India’s offer to build and launch a satellite, which would benefit all member nations. He said that the satellite should be launched by the end of 2016.<br /><br />The legal framework for the satellite was laid in September 2015 when Sri Lanka signed the first orbit frequency coordination agreement with India.<br /><br />New Delhi’s offer to build and launch the satellite is perceived as a strategic move by India to counter China’s plan to boost its space cooperation in with South Asian nations.</div>
