After water, India targets Saarc Summit

ISLAMABAD: After expressing his desire to suspend the Indus Water Treaty, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that he and some other members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) will boycott its 19th summit to be held in Islamabad in November.

The announcement came when slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ were heard loud and clear in demonstrations and rallies across the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK), where Pakistani flags are regularly raised together with coffins of Kashmiris, killed by Indians, wrapped in green and white.

The expected announcement was made by India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday, which did not specify which other Saarc member states would also skip this summit.Traditionally, New Delhi has been able to bully Bhutan and Bangladesh on such matters. In addition to Bhutan and Bangladesh, Afghanistan will also boycott the summit, reported the Indian media .

The traditional invitation which requires Pakistan’s foreign minister to personally travel and meet with heads of Saarc member states has not even been initiated as yet.Formally informing the Saarc Secretariat of not attending the summit is also not unexpected and is in line with other desperate measures that New Delhi is preparing to take, while not changing the reality inside IHK.

According to a statement from the spokesman at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, India has conveyed to the current Saarc chair Nepal that increasing cross-border terrorism attacks in the region and growing interference in internal affairs of member states by “one country” have created an environment that is not conducive to the successful holding of Saarc Summit.

“India remains steadfast in its commitment to regional cooperation, connectivity and contacts but believes that this can only go on in an environment free of terror. In the prevailing circumstances, Government of India is unable to attend this proposed summit. We believe that some other Saarc members will also not attend,” said the statement.

Commenting on the development, Spokesperson of Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry uploaded his status on social networking website Twitter as follows: “Pakistan has noted from Indian spokesperson’s tweet on Indian announcement about their refusal to participate in the 19th Saarc Summit being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this November. While we have not received any official communication in this regard, the Indian announcement is unfortunate.

“Pakistan remains committed to peace and regional cooperation. We will continue to work to that end in the larger interest of people of this region.

“As for the excuse used byIndia, the world knows that it is India that has been preparing and financing terror in Pakistan. Public confessions by Kulbhushan Yadav, Indian intelligence agency RAW’s officer, is a living proof besides many other evidences. It is India that has violated the international law and the UN Charter by interfering in the internal matters of a sovereign state, Pakistan.”