Pakistan pleads India to take part in SAARC summit; 'If not in person, then virtually'

In a key development in the impending South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit, host-country Pakistan extended an invitation to India on Monday. Giving options to India, Pakistan has added that the summit can be attended virtually, if not in person.

"We extend invites to all member countries," said Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a press briefing. SAARC comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as members. 

The 19th summit of SAARC was scheduled to be held in Islamabad on November 15-16, 2016. But after the militant attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to prevailing circumstances. The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet.

"Well, it's a diplomatic norm. If Pakistan is the host, it has to invite India. I would expect India to break the ice and come and attend the meet in Pakistan. It would be a new beginning in the relationship of the two countries," Rana Ihshan Afzal Khan, a Pakistani politician connected to PML-N, said in an exclusive conversation with Republic.

Sources say India has yet to respond to the invitation extended by Pakistan.

Pakistan's hypocrisy exposed

Though extending an invitation to India for the SAARC Summit, Pakistan has not really stopped with its nefarious activities across the borders. On Monday, after a suspected Pakistani intruder was shot dead, the Border Security Force said it recovered arms and ammunition at Ramgarh along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba. The recovery includes three AK-47 rifles, five packets of heroin, four pistols, five magazines of AK-47 rifles, two pistol magazines, 14 rounds AK-47, and seven bullets of 9mm. 

Sharing images of the same, BSF said, "During special ZLP, alert troops of 98 Battalion recovered following arms, ammunition, and heroin hidden in Sarkanda near IB near BP 35." Meanwhile, the recovered sack had the markings of "Karachi Fertilizers Company Limited".

Besides, inputs provided by central intelligence say that Pakistan's ISI has joined hands with Khalistani groups to execute attacks in India, especially in poll-bound regions like Punjab. Just a few weeks ago, a blast rocked Ludhiana. 

Image: AP/PTI