SAARC summit slips into uncertainty

Pakistan today announced the postponement of the SAARC summit to be held in Islamabad in January, citing a lack of quorum on India8217;s pa...

Pakistan today announced the postponement of the SAARC summit to be held in Islamabad in January, citing a lack of quorum on India8217;s part to confirm acceptance, even as New Delhi insisted that the summit could still be held if Pakistan made 8216;8216;substantive progress8217;8217; on regional economic cooperation.

Unwilling to be seen as a dialogue spoiler, government sources today reinvoked Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee8217;s statement made to the Army Commander8217;s conference in late October, which for the first time delinked the talks from an end to 8216;8216;Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism8217;8217; and focussed on economic co-operation instead.

Sources said the PM had told the Commanders that the summit should not be held hostage to 8216;8216;bilateral political differences between member countries. We have consistently advocated economic co-operation and cultural exchanges as a means of preparing a climate conducive for political reconciliation8217;8217;.

New Delhi had also informally agreed on the PM8217;s going to Islamabad if the SAARC members wished to move forward on the January Kathmandu Declaration 8212; specifically, on a draft agreement on a SAARC free trade area and movement on a preferential trading regime.

The sources said despite the Pakistan Foreign Office putting off the summit, 8216;8216;what the PM said in October still holds good in December8217;8217; and the summit could still be held 8216;8216;very soon8217;8217;.

The government8217;s invocation of a six-week-old speech by the PM today points to the pressure it faces from the international community, including ally Russia, on restarting dialogue with Islamabad. As its relations with key Security Council members, such as the US, improves, New Delhi doesn8217;t want to be labelled the 8216;8216;spoiler of the regional dialogue8217;8217;.

Responding to queries on India8217;s refusal to confirm attendance at the summit, Foreign Office Spokesman Navtej Sarna said movement on economic issues was 8216;8216;not a pre-condition8217;8217;.

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It only indicates that New Delhi wants to address such a 8216;8216;major issue before SAARC. If you do not have progress on this front and still want to proceed ahead with meetings without any intention of making progress, then it only leads to trivialising the forum8217;8217;.

Back in Islamabad, Pakistani Foreign Office Spokesman Kamran Niaz listed, in excruciating detail, India8217;s refusal to attend the meet. He pointed out that after refusing to respond to the SAARC Secretariat invitation for 12 weeks, the MEA formally conveyed its objection to summit dates only on December 2.

Niaz said the summit was originally proposed to be held from January 11-13. This was, according to a proposal by External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha at the SAARC foreign ministers8217; meeting in Kathmandu in August, where ministers agreed to a band of dates from January 5-20.

By August-end, Pakistan formally suggested January 11-13 for the summit to to be preceded by the usual preparatory meetings.

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Subsequently, Islamabad asked the SAARC Secretary-general on October 1 to write to all members, urging them to confirm acceptance. By the end of October, all states, except India and Bhutan, had done so.

8216;8216;The Indian government has been acting devious all along regarding its participation in the 12th SAARC summit in Pakistan. The games that it has played with SAARC summits reveal its lack of interest in the association,8217;8217; Niaz said.