Host says it's postponed

After five nations pulled out from the Saarc meet, Pakistan yesterday announced the postponement of the 19th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in Islamabad scheduled for November 9-10.

“A new set of dates for holding of summit in Islamabad will be announced soon, through the chair of Saarc (Nepal),” said a statement of Pakistan Foreign Office.

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"Accordingly, we have conveyed the same to the Prime Minister of Nepal, the current Chair of Saarc."

The announcement comes three days after four member countries -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India -- expressed their unwillingness to participate in the summit, citing increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in the region and growing interference in the internal affairs of member states by one country.

Latest, Sri Lanka yesterday expressed the same, saying the prevailing environment in the region was not conducive for holding the summit.

Though all the five member states said they would not participate in the summit citing the same reason, Pakistan blamed only India for “derailing” the event.

“Pakistan deplores India's decision to impede the Saarc process by not attending the 19th Saarc Summit in Islamabad on November 9 and 10,” Pakistan's leading newspapers Dawn and The Express Tribune quoted a Foreign Office statement as saying.

“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 perpetrated by India in occupied Kashmir,” said Nafees Zakaria, spokesperson for the Foreign Office.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry said said all preparations were made to hold the summit, but had to be called off after impediments by the Indian government, which contradicts the PM Narendra Modi's call to fight poverty in the region.

The Foreign Office said Pakistan attaches great importance to regional cooperation under the Saarc umbrella and it is committed to Saarc objectives for promoting the welfare of people in the South Asian region.

“Pakistan remains committed to hosting the 19th Saarc Summit at Islamabad at the earliest so that the objectives of regional cooperation under the Saarc umbrella can be pursued more vigorously,” added Zakaria

According to the Saarc Charter, the conference is postponed should any member state decline to participate.

But Nepal, as current Chair, and Pakistan, as host country, did not make any such announcement in last three days although four countries on September 27 pulled out.

There is no fundamental problem if the host country makes the announcement of postmen, said a Bangladesh foreign ministry official, adding that it should be done in consultation with the Chair.

But Nepal as the current Chair has to announce fresh dates through consultation with all member states, he added.

Though there was no official reaction from the Bangladesh government following the latest development yesterday, a senior official at the Saarc Wing at the foreign ministry told The Daily Star last night that Dhaka was aware of the situation.

Without naming anyone, the official said a particular country's repeated attempts to interfere in Bangladesh's internal affairs created an environment which is not conducive to the successful holding of the summit.

Tensions between India and Pakistan mounted in recent weeks, after militants suspected to have entered from Pakistan stormed an Indian army base in Uri on September 18, killing 18 soldiers. 

In efforts to isolate Pakistan in the region, India first pulled out of the summit on Tuesday citing “growing interference in the internal affairs of member states by one country creating an environment that is not conducive to the successful holding of the summit.”

India blames Pakistan for the Uri attack, which Islamabad denies.