KARACHI: The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit scheduled to be held in November was postponed after pulled out of the conference.
Well-placed sources in the government said that as per Saarc’s charter, the conference is postponed should any member decline to participate.
On Tuesday, India announced that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not participate in the summit.
“India has conveyed to current Saarc Chair Nepal that increasing cross-border terrorist 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 the 19th Saarc summit in Islamabad,” said the Indian foreign ministry.
Earlier, Nepal media quoted Nepal’s foreign minister as saying that it hoped the issues would be resolved but could not comment on whether the summit would go ahead.
The leaders of the eight Saarc countries — which also include Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives —expressed frustration after the last summit in Kathmandu with the slow pace of progress towards greater regional integration.
