SAARC summit put off by Pak

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 30

Pakistan today announced that the SAARC Summit to be held in Islamabad next month stood postponed. It said it “deplores” India’s decision to “impede the SAARC process by not attending the summit”.

Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka announced that it would not be able to attend the summit as the prevailing atmosphere was not conducive for it. The move further isolated Pakistan diplomatically and made Sri Lanka the fifth country to boycott the summit.

Backing India, Afghanistan said it was “time to take bold action”.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby said, “We continue to urge action to combat and de-legitimise terrorist groups like the LeT and Haqqani Network, Jaish-e-Mohammad."

Russia said: “We expect that the Government of Pakistan should take effective steps in order to stop activities of terrorist groups in its territory.”