India responsible for sabotaging Saarc moot: politicians

Term postponement of summit a blow to peace in region

LAHORE: Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani and other politicians have termed postponement of Saarc conference a blow to South Asian region and hold India responsible for sabotaging the moot to divert the world attention from its atrocities in the held Kashmir.

The politicians demanded the government take the parliament in confidence over the current security situation on Line of Control and keep relationship with India on equal basis.

“India has deliberately sabotaged the conference which was scheduled to take place in Pakistan, and the present situation on borders also reflect the Indian intentions to divert world’s attention from human rights violation in held Kashmir,” said the Senate chairman while talking to The News.

He said the postponement of the Saarc conference would certainly go against the interest of this region, not against any particular country. He said in the present age, regional approach was being used in the world and the nations were finding solutions to their core problems through regional platforms, which was evident from the example of Europe and Gulf. The postponement of Saarc moot wasn’t a good sign for the region, said Raza Rabbani.

He said the government must take parliament in confidence over the prevailing situation and added that in Senate, the ‘Committee of the whole’ also discussed in detail the entire issue. A drafting committee, the chairman said, had also been constituted which is comprised of 13 members from all parties, and the members had been asked to submit their recommendations by Monday so that the prevailing circumstances could be debated. Raza Rabbani said the political forces of Pakistan, despite differences were united over the issue of the country’s sovereignty.

Former Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani while talking to The News said that the rulers should deal with India on the terms of equality. He said the solution to all issues including Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek lied in dialogue.

He said as a PM he held meetings with his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh at Mohali (India), Sharam al Sheikh (Egypt), Addu (Maldives) and both had agreed to continue the dialogue process. He said the Indian PM had defined him as a man of peace.

Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani said postponement of Saarc conference and shelling on borders showed that India was frustrated after being exposed in Kashmir where its forces were perpetrating open violation of human rights.

Senator Hasil Bazinjo, head of National Party Pakistan, Federal Minister for Port and Shipping and a noted politician from Balochistan, while talking to The News said while deciding not to attend the Saarc conference in Pakistan, India had in fact caused a loss not to Pakistan, but to itself and the region. He said the region was already facing multiple challenges and this wouldn’t serve anybody’s interest if a platform, formed to address the core issues of the region, becomes non-functional.