India-Pakistan tensions threaten South Asia summit

NEW DELHI: A key South Asian summit was in doubt Wednesday after India and three other countries pulled out following a deadly attack on an army base that New Delhi blames on a Pakistan-based group.

India has sought to isolate Pakistan in the wake of the raid on its base in the disputed region of Kashmir, which killed 18 soldiers and triggered public fury.

On Tuesday it said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation ( SAARC) summit in Islamabad in November, in a major snub to its neighbor.

Hours later, Bangladesh said it was also pulling out. Afghanistan and Bhutan -- both close India allies -- have since followed suit, according - ment, current chair of SAARC.

Nepal said it hoped the issues would be resolved but could not comment on whether the summit would go ahead.

“The host will take decisions regarding the summit,” said Jhabindra Aryal, joint secretary with Nepal’s foreign ministry.

“Pakistan has been interfering in our internal affairs for some time,” a senior Bangladesh foreign ministry - nymity. “That’s why we have pulled out of the SAARC summit.”

In Islamabad, a senior Pakistani - - ing would be postponed following the four withdrawals.

Without naming Pakistan, India’s foreign ministry said “increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in the region and growing interference in the internal affairs of member states by one country” had created an environment that was not conducive for a meeting.

Under pressure to act after the Kashmir raid, Modi warned Pakistan in a major speech on Saturday that India would push to make it a pariah state.

Pakistan denies any involvement in the September 18 attack, the worst of its kind in over a decade. But India’s army has blamed Jaish- e- Mohammad, a Pakistan- based militant group that was also implicated in an audacious assault on an Indian air force base in the northern town of Pathankot in January.

At the last SAARC summit in 2014 a newly elected Modi shook hands with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, raising hopes of warmer ties. Just over a year later Modi made a surprise Christmas Day visit to Pakistan for a meeting with Sharif. But those hopes were dashed by the Pathankot attack in which seven Indian soldiers died, and peace talks have been on ice ever since.

Islamabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said SAARC officials “will reorganize future dates for the conference”. A formal announcement postponing the summit “has to come from the SAARC secretariat and not from

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.