No consensus on holding SAARC Summit: India

India on Thursday hit out at Pakistan and stated that atmosphere is not yet conducive to hold the SAARC Summit making it clear that such Summits cannot be organised until the issue of Pak-backed cross border terror is not addressed.

“We have seen media reports regarding the Pakistani Foreign Minister’s remarks about SAARC Summit. You are aware of the background as to why the SAARC Summit has not been held since 2014. There has been no material change in the situation. Therefore, there is still no consensus that would permit the holding of the Summit,” MEA spokesperson stated today.

This was in response to Pakistan’s fresh proposal earlier this week to host the SAARC Summit.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Monday that his country was ready to host the 19th SAARC Summit and India can join it virtually if the leadership in New Delhi is not willing to visit Islamabad.

Addressing a press conference to highlight the achievements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2021, Qureshi accused India of making SAARC dysfunctional through its stubbornness by refusing to come to Islamabad for the Summit meeting.

"I reiterate the invitation for the 19th SAARC summit. If India is not ready to come to Islamabad, it can join virtually… but it should not stop others from attending,” he said.

SAARC summits have not taken place since the last one in Kathmandu in 2014.

The 2016 SAARC Summit was originally planned to be held in Islamabad on November 15-19, 2016. But after a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to "prevailing circumstances".

The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet.