India on offensive to fail SAARC summit in Islamabad

Also asks Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh to pull out Pakistan’s Foreign Office terms Indian announcement as ‘unfortunate’ Pakistan’s high commissioner re-summoned in New Delhi, handed over evidence on Uri attack Modi calls meeting to review MFN sta

ACTING on its threat of “diplomatically isolating Pakistan” following the Uri attack for which it squarely blamed Pakistan, India has officially pulled out of the upcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit due in Islamabad this November.

Not only has India decided to withdraw from the regional conference, it has also asked other SAARC countries – Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh – to bail out on the moot.

“India has decided to pull out of the upcoming SAARC summit in Islamabad,” India’s Ministry for External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in a tweet on Tuesday.

“Regional cooperation and terror don’t go together. India pulls out of SAARC summit in Islamabad,” added the Indian official in a statement.

“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,” the statement said.

“In the prevailing circumstances, the Government of India is unable to participate in the proposed Summit in Islamabad”, it added. India also claimed in the statement that “it remains steadfast in its commitment for regional cooperation”. The announcement came hours after Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar claimed that two guides from Muzaffarabad had facilitated attackers who killed 18 Indian army men earlier this month in Kashmir’s Uri sector. Pakistan’s Foreign Office, in its response after India’s withdrawal from the SAARC summit, termed the Indian announcement as “unfortunate” in an official statement. The statement said that India had not officially conveyed in this regard yet.

“Pakistan remains committed to peace and regional cooperation. We will continue to work to that end in the larger interest of the people of this region,” said the statement. The FO’s statement also mentioned India’s support for terrorism in Pakistan.

“As for the excuse used by India, the world knows that it is India that’s has been perpetrating and financing terrorism in Pakistan,” concluded the FO statement.

HIGH COMMISSIONER ABDUL BASIT RE-SUMMONED: Meanwhile, the Indian External Affairs Ministry again summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit in New Delhi and handed him over the so-called proofs of the Uri attack.

Basit rejected the so-called Indian allegations in the strongest term, terming the Indian evidence “a pack of lies”. He also asked India to stop leveling allegations without proof. MODI CALLS MEETING TO REVIEW MFN STATUS TO PAKISTAN: Meanwhile, pressing on with its tough position against Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a meeting with top officials on Thursday to decide whether or not to withdraw the “Most Favoured Nation” status to Pakistan.

The other day, Modi consulted with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and other top officials to discuss whether a reconfiguration of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan was among the steps that the government should take as a response to attacks from Pakistani soil. India is debating a series of steps to tighten pressure on Pakistan after the September 18 attack on an army base in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri, in which 18 soldiers were killed. If the government withdraws the move, the impact will be mainly symbolic on Pakistan because the balance of trade is inIndia’s favour.