SAARC Summit News

The five-day 108th session of ISC will take place at Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, which is celebrating its centenary this year. This is perhaps the first time in nearly two decades that the prime minister will not be physically present. 

Pakistan accused India of making SAARC dysfunctional through its stubbornness by refusing to come to Islamabad for the Summit meeting.

Pakistan's proposal to host the 19th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit failed yet again due to the lack of consensus. The plans to hold the summit in Islamabad was on the agenda of the SAARC foreign ministers virtual meet on Thursday.

Sources say that India is unlikely to change its stance on the issue and has said that its position on the summit is the same as before.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be invited to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit which is to be held in Islamabad, reported Dawn quoting Pakistan Foreign Office.

Asked about why the two countries could not resume talks in 2016, Nafees Zakaria alleged that India was using "flimsiest of reasons to avoid talks".

Sartaj Aziz, Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs, said that he would travel to India to attend the Heart of Asia Conference in December, asserting that his visit could be a "good opportunity" to "defuse the tension" between India and Pakistan.

India and four other SAARC members - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka - pulled out of the November summit, indirectly blaming Pakistan for creating an environment not conducive for successful holding of the meet.

Nepal on Sunday regretted that the regional environment was "not conducive" to host the next SAARC summit.

Pakistan on Friday postponed the SAARC Summit to be held in October after India along with four other member states of the regional grouping decided against attending the meet.

In a big diplomatic blow to Pakistan, after India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, Maldives on Friday became the sixth state to pull out of the 19th SAARC summit in Islamabad.

Nepal, the present Chair of the SAARC, said on Friday that the summit of the South Asian regional grouping cannot take place if even one member country notifies its inability to participate in the event.

The reasons why Pakistan may not want to admit that India’s surgical strikes across LoC were successful is because Pakistan would never ever want to admit the success of the Indian Army.

Hailing the Army for its valour and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday said this indicates a rise of "new India" as for the first time a clear response has been given to terrorists by targeting their "breeding centres".

Pakistan has denied any surgical strike by India but admitted to the death of two soldiers in cross-LoC firing by Indian troops. 

After the Uri attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the attackers will not go "unpunished" and that the sacrifice of 18 jawans will not go in vain.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday justified Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision of not attending the SAARC Summit in Pakistan, suggesting he could not travel there under the present circumstances.

The Congress on Wednesday demanded that instead of boycotting the Saarc Summit, it should be held without Pakistan and the neighbouring country must be isolated globally.

In another snub to Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday night decided not to attend the SAARC summit in Islamabad in November.