NEW DELHI/DHAKA, 3 February 2005 — A summit of South Asian leaders planned for next week in Bangladesh’s capital has been postponed because of India’s decision not to attend amid political turmoil in member state Nepal, an official said yesterday.
“The summit has been cancelled and fresh dates will be worked out after consultation,” Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said.
Pakistan, current chairman of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), questioned Manmohan’s decision not to attend the Feb. 6-7 meeting in Dhaka.
“It is beyond our understanding why India refused at the last minute. We are asking them” for their reasons, Sheikh Rashid added.
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pulled out of the summit citing deteriorating security and political developments in Bangladesh and Nepal.
“We have formally communicated to the government of Bangladesh that India would not be able to attend the forthcoming summit on the scheduled dates,” Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said yesterday.
Manmohan’s decision not to attend the summit means it has to be put off as, under the SAARC charter, a summit can take place only if all heads of state or government of the seven member countries participate.
SAARC groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The summit was originally due to be held early last month but was delayed after the Asian tsunami disaster.
Reacting to India’s decision Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shamser Mobin Chowdhury told a news conference in Dhaka, “We are shocked at the unwarranted and unexpected decision of the Indian government not to attend after all preparations have been completed.”
Prime ministers of rivals India and Pakistan were set to meet on the sidelines of the SAARC summit. The widely anticipated meeting between Manmohan and his Pakistani counterpart Shaukat Aziz could have given a boost to the year-old peace process between the nuclear-armed rivals, which has stalled in recent months.
Manmohan had also been due to meet the now-sacked Nepalese Premier Sher Bahadur Deuba on the sidelines of the 13th annual summit. King Gyanendra had said earlier yesterday that he would travel to Dhaka instead.
Ministry of External Affairs statement in New Delhi said the decision was taken “against the background of recent developments in our neighborhood which has caused us grave concern”.
India said the security situation in Dhaka had deteriorated recently after a grenade attack which killed five people including a former Bangladeshi minister and sparked a general strike.
The statement said India would work to make sure the summit was held in the near future and that it had requested fresh dates.
“It is only in an environment free from political turmoil and violence that a summit would yield the desired outcome,” it said.
But Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said the repeated postponements could make the regional grouping a laughing stock.
“We are disappointed because the delegates were working around the clock to prepare the agenda for the meeting,” he said.
“The summit was already postponed once because of the tsunami disaster. This time the dates have been worked out after careful consultations and with the clear consent of the heads of state or governments attending the conference.”
The summit would have addressed key issues including poverty reduction, trade and energy, Khan said.
“Frequent postponements could tarnish the image of SAARC. It was a highly anticipated event, not only in India and Pakistan but all around the world,” he added.
