In an important development, Sri Lanka has become the fourth member who will not attend the SAARC summit in Islamabad in November, which is almost canceled.
Earlier, India, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh have pulled out of SAARC expressing concerns over the environment of the region, which according to Bangladesh, is not good for the summit.
India, the biggest member of SAARC, was the first nation to boycott this years South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit, in reaction to the Uri Attack, which was allegedly planned by the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-E-Muhammad.
In an official communication by Sri Lanka to the SAARC chair in Nepal said, “Sri Lanka regrets that the prevailing environment in the region is not conducive for holding the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad on November 9 and 10 2016.
The General Provisions of the SAARC Charter require that decisions at all levels shall be taken on the basis of unanimity, and this applies to the convening of meetings of Heads of State or Government of SAARC Member States as well.
Peace and security are essential elements for the success of meaningful regional cooperation for the benefit of the people of South Asia. As a founding member of SAARC, committed to regional cooperation, Sri Lanka hopes that the steps required to ensuring our region's peace and security will be taken to create an environment that is conducive for the pursuit of regional cooperation.
Sri Lanka condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and stresses in this regard, the need to deal with the issue of terrorism in the region in a decisive manner.”
Sri Lanka’s pull out of SAARC has come days ahead Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe’s visit to India.
As the five members have already pulled out of SAARC, summit is automatically going to be canceled as all the members should be present for summit to take place. However, according to reports, Pakistan will be going ahead despite pulling out by few members.
As a chair of SAARC, Nepal had earlier maintained that all member-nations should attend the SAARC summit to maintain peace in the region. The Maldives, currently, has not decided whether to attend the SAARC summit or not.
By Prajakt K.
