New Delhi:The 19th Saarc summit level meet that is to be hosted by Pakistan has been put on hold for now for “lack of consensus” given the current situation of the coronavirus pandemic.
The matter was part of the agenda list of items during the virtual meeting of Saarc Council of Ministers on Thursday. Sources have told India Today that most countries felt that the time was not opportune.
“Most countries felt that it was not an opportune time for the event considering that member states are preoccupied in dealing with Covid 19 situation. So the proposal fell through due to lack of consensus,” said a source.
Pakistan has been pushing for the SAARC summit level to be hosted in their country since 2016 after India decided to boycott the event because of the terror attacks of Uri, Pathankot and the dastardly attack in Pulwama that killed 40 CRPF personnel.
India has maintained that Pakistan will have to create an atmosphere that is conducive for the holding of the summit level meeting.
“Cross-border terrorism, blocking connectivity and obstructing trade are three key challenges that Saarc must overcome. Only then will we see enduring peace, prosperity and security in our South Asia region,” External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said in his opening remarks.
In his opening remarks, the Chair (Nepal) underscored the importance of collective efforts for strengthening regional cooperation to cope with the emerging challenges posed by the global pandemic.
In this context, he emphasised the need to reinvigorate the Saarc process to make it more focused and result-oriented in meeting the hopes and aspirations of the people of South Asia.
Interestingly, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who is known to rake up Kashmir at every fora, only made indirect references to “illegally occupied territories” and “unilateral” cartographic changes, but there was no mention of Kashmir in his seven-minute long opening remark.
Unlike the SCO NSA-level meet where Pakistan flaunted the new “fictitious” political map that led to Ajit Doval walking out of the forum, this time Qureshi did no such thing.
Some believe it is because they wanted the meeting to be a smooth affair so that they could further their agenda of getting the forum to agree on Pakistan “hosting the next summit at the earliest”, as spelt out by Qureshi during the meet.
But unlike the SAARC ministerial meet, Pakistan specifically raised the issue of Kashmir at another ministerial meeting that was held on Thursday, Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures (CICA) in Asia.
Responding to a query during the weekly briefing on this issue, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava, said, “It is very typical of Pakistan to use such fora to raise bilateral and contentious issues which is inconsistent with the principles and charter of such organizations and their meetings. What else can be expected of a country that indulges in cross-border terrorism as a part of its state policy.”
Specifically to Qureshi raking up Kashmir at CICA, India exercised her Right of Reply and said, “Unfortunately, Pakistan has misused another forum by continuing its spurious narrative about India. The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been and will remain an integral part of India. Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on India’s internal affairs.”
“Pakistan’s remarks today constitute gross interference in India’s internal affairs, sovereignty and territorial integrity which is inconsistent with the CICA Declaration on the Principles Guiding Relations between the CICA Member States of September 1999,” the Indian statement added.
Cross-border terror among key challenges for Saarc:India
Highlighting the issue of cross border terrorism which was also raised by Dr Jaishankar at the Saarc meeting, the statement said, “Pakistan is the global epicentre of terrorism and continues to be the source of terrorist activities in India. We advise Pakistan to cease its sponsorship and overt and covert support to terrorism against India. This will enable the two countries to engage and address issues bilaterally rather than distract this important forum from its agenda.”
India has maintained that till the time Pakistan does not mend its ways, a real revival of the Saarc is going to remain a distant possibility.
Pakistan has been waiting to host the Saarc summit since 2016 but for that Pakistan will have to stop using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.
Meanwhile, in their country statements, the ministers apprised the Council about the status of implementation of Saarc decisions as well as initiatives taken at the national level to fight the challenges posed by the pandemic.
They also emphasised the need to work collectively to overcome the adverse impacts of the pandemic in the region.
“In this context, they appreciated the initiative of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India in convening the Saarc Leaders’ Video Conference on Covid-19 in March this year. They also reviewed the subsequent regional initiatives undertaken to fight against the pandemic,” said the MEA statement.