ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday hit back at India blaming it for orchestrating terror in Pakistan minutes after Indian prime minister announced to skip the upcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit.
India’s external affairs ministry said Modi, who was expected to travel to Islamabad in November, will not attend the SAARC summit in wake of the strained relations with Pakistan following the attack in Uri.
“Regional cooperation and terror don’t go together. India pulls out of SAARC Summit in Islamabad,” EAM spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted. “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,” External Affairs Ministry said in a separate statement.
“We also understand that some other SAARC member states have also conveyed their reservation about attending the Islamabad Summit in November 2016,” it said, hinting Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan may also not attend the Summit.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office termed the Indian announcement as ‘unfortunate.’ The FO added that India had not officially conveyed the decision as 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 statement mentioned India’s support for terrorism in Pakistan. “As for the excuse used by India, the world knows that it is India that has been perpetrating and financing terrorism in Pakistan.”
Citing the public confession by former Indian navy officer Kulbhushan Yadav, the statement said India violated the international law and UN charter by interfering in the internal matters of a sovereign state.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry predicted India will be isolated globally if it continued with such decisions. “We have not received their decision yet officially but India is taking aggressive decisions. This will isolate them,” he said.
Chaudhry said Pakistan was always ready for talks and was committed to peace efforts in the region.
The decision to boycott the SAARC Summit comes as India has been stepping up its diplomatic offensive against Pakistan over the past few days, for alleged backing of the Kashmir unrest and Urdi attack that killed several Indian soldiers this month. Pakistan categorically rejects such allegations.