India has made SAARC a 'hostage': Tehmina Janjua

ISLAMABAD: Secretary of Foreign Affairs Tehmina Janjua said India has held South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) a hostage.

As per details, the foreign secretary was speaking at an international conference in the federal capital where she asserted that India has become a hurdle in the way of hosting SAARC summit at Pakistan.

Recently, Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj had announced that India will not partake in the SAARC conference if it is held in Pakistan.

Ms Janjua while highlighting the strength of Pakistan’s ties with all global powers said, Pak-China relations are exemplary which further received a boost by the recent visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to China.

Reiterating the policy towards India, Ms Tehmina said, Pakistan is willing to resolve all issues including Kashmir on the negotiation table.

“India is promoting unconventional weapons,” Ms Tehmina pointed out.

She further said a solution to the Afghan conflict is highly imperative and Pakistan is in favor of a dialogue between the Afghan government and the Taliban, she added.

Few days earlier, the Secretary Foreign Affairs while addressing a ceremony marking the 34th SAARC Charter Day stressed, all the member countries need to work together with cohesion to transform the lives of their peoples and alleviate poverty from the region.

She said Pakistan continues to believe in the viability of SAARC and by adhering to the principles of sovereign equality and mutual respect amongst member countries, “we can guide the organization towards achieving our cherished goal of a prosperous and developed South Asian Region.”

Tehmina added that it is in the same spirit that Pakistan had made preparations to host the 19th SAARC summit in Islamabad.