SAARC summit 'postponed' after four-nation boycott

The 19th SAARC Summit due in Islamabad in November has been postponed, sources in the Nepal foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

India Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 28 Sept 2016, 07:29 AM
Updated : 28 Sept 2016, 12:50 PM

This became inevitable after Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan joined India in boycotting the forthcoming gathering of the South Asian leaders.

All three of India's neighbours have conveyed their inability to attend the summit to Nepal, the current chair of the eight-nation regional grouping.

Nepal, with backing from Sri Lanka and the Maldives, is trying to save the summit by postponing it rather than cancelling it altogether.

"But given the mood in South Asia, it will not be easy to hold this summit soon," a senior Nepali diplomat told bdnews24.com, but he was not willing to be named.

The 'Kathmandu Post,' Nepal's premier English daily, confirmed the postponement of the SAARC Summit on Wednesday.

After India said its prime minister will not travel to Islamabad, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan have pulled out, leaving Pakistan badly isolated in the region.

The SAARC or South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit cannot take place even if one of the eight members withdraws from it.

Communicating to Nepal its inability to attend, Bangladesh said: "The growing interference in the internal affairs of Bangladesh by one country has created an environment which is not conducive to the successful hosting of the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad in November 2016."

The statement from Bhutanese foreign ministry said: "The Royal Government of Bhutan shares the concerns of some SAARC member countries on the deterioration of regional peace and security due to terrorism and joins them in conveying our inability to participate in the SAARC Summit, under the current circumstances."

Afghanistan's statement was blunt.

"Due to the increased level of violence and fighting as a result of imposed terrorism on Afghanistan, the President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani with his responsibilities as the Commander in Chief will be fully engaged, and will not be able to attend the Summit," it read.

Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted "cross-border terror attacks" have created an environment that is "not conducive" for the SAARC Summit.

The boycott by half the SAARC nations comes as a shot in the arm for Indian efforts to isolate Pakistan after the Sept 18 Uri attack in Kashmir, in which 18 soldiers were killed.

That apart, it is also reliably learnt that the intelligence agencies of India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan entertain serious security apprehensions for their delegations, especially for prime ministers and presidents.

"We cannot guarantee with certainty that our leaders will be safe in Islamabad," said a top source at India's Joint Intelligence Committee.

He said India has been in constant touch on the security issue with Bangladesh and Afghanistan, both victims of Pakistan-sponsored terror.

Bangladesh is also upset with 'brazen Pakistani interference' over the 1971 war crimes trials, which touched a raw nerve across the country.

Pakistan has threatened to take the executions of the war criminals to the UN, provoking Bangladesh to assert that Islamabad was unrepentant over the 1971 genocide of millions of Bengalis by its army.

Dhaka has also expelled two Pakistani diplomats, who, its intelligence agencies claim, were "ISI staffers masquerading as diplomats" and "backing terrorists".

Islamabad retaliated by expelling Bangladesh diplomat Moushumi Rahman without assigning any reason.

Afghanistan has said it was much as a victim of 'Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism' as India.

Its envoy in New Delhi Shaida Abdali was the first to pitch for a joint boycott of SAARC summit last week in an interview with an Indian TV channel.