Modi to Skip SAARC Summit in Pak Under Current Circumstances: MEA

“India can only go forward in an atmosphere free of terror,” MEA said in a statement.

MEA announced that PM Modi will be skipping the SAARC summit. (Photo: Reuters)

Amid growing tensions between India and Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will skip SAARC summit which will be held in Islamabad, MEA confirmed.

“In the prevailing circumstances, the Government of India is unable to participate in the proposed summit in Islamabad. India remains steadfast in commitment to regional cooperation and connectivity, but believes that it can only go forward in an atmosphere free of terror,” MEA said in a statement.

Sources quoted by ANI said that other SAARC countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan have raised reservations against attending the SAARC summit.

BJP National Secretary, Shrikant Sharma said:

The idea is to expose Pakistan on the international platform. Pakistan is a terror state and very soon the whole world should declare it.

Reacting to the announcement, Pakistani Senator Sherry Rehman said it was irresponsible of the Modi government to skip the summit.

Although India is skipping the SAARC summit following Pakistan’s denial in having any involvement in the Uri attacks, it will be holding the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit in Goa.

The BIMSTEC summit is an international organisation of the East Asian countries namely Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

The summit’s potential in achieving cooperative success lies in the absence of Pakistan. The growing conflicts between India and Pakistan, and generally Pakistan and its neighbouring countries, have affected the functioning capabilities of SAARC.

India has been singling out Pakistan as a state that shelters terrorist activities since the Uri attack.

Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said that when terrorist attacks have targeted so many countries, it was time to question “who are financing the terrorists” in her address to the United Nations General Assembly. Referring to Pakistan she had said:

In our midst there are still nations that harbour terrorism, we must identify them and hold them accountable... We took the decision to resolve issues (with Pakistan) not on the basis of preconditions but on the basis of friendship. What did we get in return? Pathankot, Bahadur Ali, and Uri? 

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi too said, “Wherever terrorism is happening across Asia, the affected nations are blaming only one nation,” in his address on the second day of the BJP’s National Council Meeting in Kozhikode.

Other than India, Afghanistan too has been blatantly criticising Pakistan for providing a safe haven for terrorists in its soil.

Earlier Aghanistan’s Ambassador to India, Dr Shaida Mohammad Abdali had said that South Asian countries should isolate the country that sabotages the “regional unity, integrity and peace” that SAARC summit stands for.