The 19th SAARC Summit scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November has been postponed after India on Tuesday announced its inability to take part in it “in the prevailing circumstances” Kathmandu Post, a Nepal based national daily, reported on Wednesday.
India has already communicated its decision to Nepal, the SAARC chair, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said. The summit is automatically postponed or cancelled if one member country skips the event.
Tensions between India and Pakistan are growing after suspected Pakistan militants stormed an Indian Army base in Uri violating border on September 18, killing 18 soldiers.
This became inevitable after Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan also declined to join the forthcoming SAARC Summit.
All three of India’s neighbours separately conveyed their inability to attend the summit to Nepal, the current chair of SAARC.
Nepal, with backing from Sri Lanka and the Maldives, is trying to save the summit by postponing it rather than cancelling.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam on Wednesday clarified that the decision to boycott SAARC summit at Islamabad is purely Bangladesh’s own decision.
“It (Bangladesh decision) has no relation to other countries’ decisions. It’s our own decision,” he told journalists at his office at the foreign ministry yesterday.
Without mentioning any name, Shahriar said a particular country’s repeated attempts to interfere in Bangladesh’s internal affairs has created an environment which is not conducive to the successful holding of SAARC summit.
“We’ve conveyed it to current SAARC chairman (Nepal and SAARC secretariat) yesterday that Bangladesh is not attending the Summit,” he said. Bangladesh, as the initiator of SAARC process, the state minister said, beliefs in regional cooperation and connectivity which was also conveyed to the SAARC chair and SAARC Secretariat.
“When time and scope will be available, Bangladesh will attend such events,” he added.
The relations between Bangladesh-Pakistan have deteriorated sharply in recent years after Pakistan’s repeated interference in Bangladesh’s internal affairs following the trial and execution of war criminals in Bangladesh.
The State Minister said Bangladesh will never compromise, and never compromised in the past either, in terms of issues related to the trial of war criminals and execution of Bangabandhu’s killers.
Dhaka strongly protested Islamabad’s meddling in its internal affairs and last year Bangladesh expelled a Pakistani diplomat for alleged funding of Islamist extremists.
However, an official in Dhaka said they are yet to receive any message of the postponement from the SAARC Chair Nepal.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi yesterday decided to refrain from joining the Summit.
Bhutan and Afghanistan will also skip the summit, according to diplomatic sources.
The Ministry of External Affairs, India on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not travel to Islamabad to participate in the SAARC summit in November as the atmosphere is “not conducive to a successful summit”.
India has conveyed to current SAARC Chair Nepal that increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in the region and growing interference in the internal affairs of Member States by one country have created an environment that is not conducive to the successful holding of the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad in November 2016.
“In the prevailing circumstances, the government of India is unable to participate in the proposed Summit in Islamabad,” it said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to have a bilateral meeting with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Goa on October 16, where they are likely to discuss the future steps on regional cooperation.
Bangladesh Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan skipped the two SAARC ministerial-level meetings in Islamabad citing domestic compulsion.
On September 19, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh ‘firmly stands’ beside India at this difficult hour and expressed deep shock at the terrorist attack on the army base at Uri, Kashmir.
‘In line with its ‘zero tolerance’ policy against terrorism and violent extremism, Bangladesh firmly stands beside India at this difficult hour,’ she wrote to her Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi.
Bangladesh officials said Bangladesh and India will continue to work together to eradicate the menace of cross-border terrorism from this region and beyond and both the leaders will further discuss it the Goa event.
Diplomatic sources said four countries— Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal have progressed much with BBIN initiative leaving Pakistan and these countries along with Afghanistan and Sri Lnaka are exploring options how to proceed further without Pakistan.
