Representatives of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation are scheduled to meet in Kathmandu, Nepal, this week to attend a session of the Programming Committee, PTI reported. This is the first meeting of the members since the 19th Saarc summit, which was meant to take place in Islamabad, Pakistan, was postponed last year.
At the two-day meeting, the member states will discuss subjects such as the budget of the Saarc Secretariat and the rescheduling of the summit. The meeting is scheduled for February 1 and February 2.
On Saturday, Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz had accused India of “impeding the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s proceedings”. “Islamabad was looking forward to welcoming Saarc leaders for the 19th summit in November 2016. India impeded the process and violated the spirit of the charter,” he had said.
In October 2016, India had backed out of the summit in the aftermath of an attack on the Army facility at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi had said the attack was orchestrated by Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh also followed suit, after which Nepal – the current chair of the bloc – postponed the summit saying the environment was not conducive to hosting the summit on November 9 and 10 in Islamabad.
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