A day after a Pakistan official claimed that PM Modi was invited to Pakistan for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Islamabad, India dismissed it as a ploy.
Usually a SAARC summit is announced only after it has been decided upon by all
members. It is only after the date has been decided by member states that formal invitations are sent out.
According to a senior government official, “India is not a special invitee that Pakistan has the discretion to invite us. India is integral to the Saarc process. The date for a Saarc summit is finalised with the consent of all members. And that has not happened.”
The last SAARC summit was supposed to be held at Islamabad in 2016, in which eight countries namely India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan and Pakistan were supposed to take part.
After the terrorist attack in Uri, India announced to boycott the summit alleging Pakistan’s involvement in it. This further led to other countries also withdrawing which in turn led to the indefinite postponement of the SAARC summit.