A statement by the Foreign Office said that the Prime Minister was looking forward to welcome the SAARC leaders for their participation in the Summit.
All preparations had been made for successful holding of the summit in a befitting manner, which was affected by India’s decision to impede the SAARC process by not attending the Summit.
The spirit of the SAARC Charter is violated when a member state casts the shadow of its bilateral problems on the multilateral forum for regional cooperation.
It states that the attempt by India to derail the summit contradicts Indian Prime Minister Modi’s own call to fight against poverty in the region, and the decision to abstain from the summit on the basis of unfounded assumptions on the Uri incident is a futile effort to divert attention of the world from the atrocities in Indian-Occupied Kashmir.
Foreign Office said that Pakistan attaches great importance to regional cooperation and is committed to the SAARC objectives for promoting welfare of the people of South Asia, improving their quality of life, acceleration of economic growth, social progress and cultural development.
Therefore, Pakistan remains committed to hosting the 19th SAARC Summit at Islamabad at the earliest, and a new set of dates will be announced soon. This has been conveyed to the Prime Minister of Nepal who is the Chair of SAARC.
