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The 19th SAARC summit was a scheduled diplomatic conference which was originally planned to be held in
Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, on 15–19 November 2016, but got cancelled after an attack on an Indian army camp in Kashmir. The summit was to be attended by the leaders of the eight
SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, ...
member states and representatives of observers and guest states. Following the rising diplomatic tensions after the
2016 Uri attack The 2016 Uri attack was carried out on 18 September by four Jaish-e-Mohammed insurgents from Pakistan against an Indian Army brigade headquarters near the town of Uri in the erstwhile Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. 19 Indian soldiers we ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
announced its boycott of the summit, alleging Pakistan's involvement in the attack. Later,
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, and
Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
also pulled out of the summit. culminating in an indefinite postponement of the summit.


Background

Following the
2016 Uri terror attack The 2016 Uri attack was carried out on 18 September by four Jaish-e-Mohammed insurgents from Pakistan against an Indian Army brigade headquarters near the town of Uri in the erstwhile Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. 19 Indian soldiers wer ...
, India cancelled its participation in the 19th SAARC summit, alleging Pakistan's involvement in the terror attack.3 Days After Uri Attack, India Hands Pakistan Envoy Evidence And A Warning
NDTV News, 21 September 2016.


Reactions by member nations

Bangladesh also pulled out of the summit in Islamabad. The Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry conveyed to the SAARC Chair Nepal that Pakistan's increasing interference in Bangladesh's domestic affairs is inimical to the interest of Bangladesh and under such circumstances it is not possible to participate in the summit at Islamabad. The ministry maintained that "Bangladesh, as the initiator of the SAARC process, remains steadfast in its commitment to regional cooperation, connectivity, and contacts but believes that these can only go forward in a more congenial atmosphere". Afghanistan announced its withdrawal from the summit, stating, "Due to increased level of violence and fighting as a result of imposed terrorism on Afghanistan, (President) Ashraf Ghani with his responsibilities as the Commander-in-Chief will be fully engaged, and will not be able to attend the Summit." Bhutan also withdrew from the summit. The country stated that the "recent escalation of terrorism in the region has seriously compromised the environment for the successful holding" of the summit. The Bhutanese government added that it also shared the concerns of some member states on the "deterioration of regional peace because of terror". Sri Lanka, backing a call for postponing the 19th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit in Pakistan, said the prevailing environment in the region was not conducive for holding the event. The Maldives, which initially refrained from boycotting and instead urged a conductive environment be created for the summit, later boycotted the event condemning international terrorism, especially those originating from outside. Nepal, the current chair of SAARC, urged that "a conducive environment be created soon to ensure the participation of all member states in the 19th SAARC summit in line with the spirit of the SAARC charter". It also asked the member countries "to ensure that their respective territories are not used by terrorists for cross border terrorism". Pakistan first postponed the conference to a further date, citing ''Article X'' (General Provisions) of the SAARC Charter that all decisions at all levels shall be taken on the basis of unanimity. However, after Maldives, sixth of the eight member nations, pulled out, Pakistan was forced to cancel the summit altogether.


See also

*
List of SAARC summits The information given is about the list of summits of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Although the SAARC Charter requires approximately every eighteenth months. Member countries of SAARC include: 1. Nepal 2. Bhutan ...
*
2016 Uri terror attack The 2016 Uri attack was carried out on 18 September by four Jaish-e-Mohammed insurgents from Pakistan against an Indian Army brigade headquarters near the town of Uri in the erstwhile Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. 19 Indian soldiers wer ...


Notes


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:SAARC summit, 19 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summits 21st-century diplomatic conferences Boycotts of events