Thursday, March 28, 2024

Pakistan officially announces postponment of SAARC summit

Pakistan officially announces postponment of SAARC summit
September 30, 2016
ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Pakistan on Friday officially announced postponement of the the SAARC summit. In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson said the 19th SAARC Summit was to be held at Islamabad on November 9-10 this year. The prime minister was looking forward to welcome the SAARC leaders for their participation in the summit. The Spokesperson said the spirit of the SAARC Charter is violated when a member state casts the shadow of its bilateral problems on the multilateral forum for regional cooperation. The decision by India to derail the summit effectively contradicts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own call to fight against poverty in the region. The spokesperson said India's decision to abstain from the summit on the basis of unfounded assumptions on the Uri incident is a futile effort to divert attention of the world from the atrocities perpetrated by India in Occupied Kashmir. “Pakistan attaches great importance to regional cooperation under the umbrella of SAARC. It is committed to the SAARC objectives for promoting welfare of the people of South Asia, improving their quality of life, acceleration of economic growth, social progress and cultural development. Therefore, Pakistan remains committed to hosting the 19th SAARC Summit at Islamabad at the earliest so that the objectives of regional cooperation under the SAARC umbrella can be pursued more vigorously,” the spokesperson added. He further said a new set of dates for holding of the 19th SAARC Summit at Islamabad will be announced soon, through the Chair of SAARC, Nepal.