M A I N   N E W S

SAARC summit postponed
Rajeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 9
Frostiness in Indo-Pak relations once again manifested itself today when Pakistan indefinitely deferred the 12th SAARC summit proposed to be held in Islamabad from January 11 to January 13 next, accusing India of sabotaging the event and India responding coldly that the Pakistani decision was “ a choice they have made.”

According to Pakistan-watchers here, the history was all set to repeat itself in Indo-Pak relations and the SAARC summit was bound to be in a limbo for a long time just as it was after Gen Pervez Musharraf’s military coup of October 12, 1999 which brought about a 26-month-long delay in holding the 11th SAARC summit eventually held in Kathmandu in January this year.

Pakistan was left with no other option but to indefinitely defer SAARC summit as apart from India, Bhutan too, did not toe the Pakistani line and as per the SAARC charter all decisions of the body, including the one on holding a summit, have to be unanimous.

The Indian Government has adopted a couldn’t-care-less attitude about Pakistan’s decision.

Sources in South Block today rubbished all Pakistani charges, maintaining that all these charges were levelled on the basis of Indian media reports which do not, necessarily, reflect the Government of India’s stand.

They said there was hardly any formal diplomatic communication between the two countries on the issue of the 12th summit.

What Pakistan says

* Ever since the decision to hold the SAARC summit in January 2003 in Islamabad, India has been looking for excuses to sabotage the event. It began by accusing Pakistan of dragging its feet on economic cooperation under SAARC, particularly in the context of SAPTA and SAFTA.

* A story appeared in the Indian media (a reference to The Tribune story published in November 2002), hinting at the possibility of Mr Yashwant Sinha representing India at the summit, instead of the Prime Minister. This would have been against the charter and hence unacceptable.

* The Indian Government has been acting deviously all along regarding its participation in the summit in Pakistan. The games that the Indian Governments have played with SAARC summits reveal their lack of interest in the Association.

* The Government of Pakistan will, in due course, announce fresh dates for the summit after consulting other countries and the SAARC Secretariat

What India Says

This is what Mr Navtej Sarna, spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs, said today about the Pakistani decision and the charges against India:

* It is a choice they (Pakistan) have made.

* In fact, a strange situation has been reached as every meaningful proposal for economic cooperation was being systematically sabotaged by Pakistan.

* India always committed to SAARC.

* How can India be blamed for pushing for the economic agenda in SAARC summit when the forum is meant precisely for this.

* Pakistan is trivialising the forum.