Pakistan puts off Saarc summit after Sri Lanka drops out

NEW DELHI: Pakistan on Friday ‘postponed’ the Saarc summit, scheduled for November 9 and 10, hours after Sri Lanka became the fifth nation to drop out of the meet. “Pakistan deplores India's decision to impede the Saarc process by not attending the 19th Saarc summit at Islamabad on 9-10 November 2016,” the Pakistan foreign office said in a statement.

“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” by India in Kashmir, the statement said, while adding that “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.”

Earlier in the day, Colombo announced its decision to pull out of the summit, boosting India’s efforts to isolate Pakistan. While Afghanistan on Friday backed surgical strikes across LoC, Sri Lanka finally toed India’s line that terror had vitiated the atmosphere for thesummit.

Lanka said the prevailing environment was not conducive for holding the event. “Peace and security are essential elements for the success of meaningful regional cooperation for the benefit of the people of South Asia. As a founding member of Saarc, committed to regional cooperation, Sri Lanka hopes that the steps required to ensure our region’s peace and security will be taken to create an environment that is conducive for the pursuit of regional cooperation,” Lankan Foreign Ministry noted in a statement.