Postponement of SAARC Summit, Pakistan deplores India’s decision not attending the 19th SAARC Summit Islamabad scheduled from 9th-10th November 2016,
Report by; Asghar Ali Mubarak
Islamabad; Pakistan deplores India’s decision to impede the SAARC process by not attending the 19thSAARC Summit at Islamabad on 9-10 November 2016.The 19th SAARC Summit was to be held at Islamabad on 9-10 November 2016. The Prime Minister of Pakistan 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.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. The decision by India to derail the Summit effectively contradicts Prime Minister Modi’s own call to fight against poverty in the region.India’s 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 perpetrated by India in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir.Pakistan attaches great importance to regional cooperation under the umbrella of SAARC. It 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 so that the objectives of regional cooperation under the SAARC umbrella can be pursued more vigorously.A new set of dates for holding of the 19th SAARC Summit at Islamabad will be announced soon, through the Chair of SAARC (Nepal). Accordingly, we have conveyed the same to the Prime Minister of Nepal, the current Chair of SAARC. . India has a track record of impeding the SAARC process. Whenever Summit has been postponed, each time any of the participating member states declines to participate in the SAARC Summit, it is postponed after a due process. In the history of SAARC Summits most of the postponements have been caused by India’s negative attitude towards the SAARC process. Since the past two months, India had made it very clear through its state-administered media that it would back out from the Summit.In the aftermath of the surgical strikes against Pakistan carried out by the Indian Army; emerging reports suggested that an Indian soldier has been captured behind the Line of Control. The Indian Army sources confirmed later via Twitter that one Indian soldier, belonging to the 37 Rashtriya Rifles, has in fact inadvertently crossed to the other side of the LoC. Sources also added that Lt General Ranbir Singh, the Director General of Military Operations, has informed Pakistani officials via hotline.
The Indian Army also rubbished claims by some Pakistani media outlets that eighteen Indian soldiers were killed in the operation. Some Pakistani news outlets had even inflated the dubious figure to 14.
“The dead bodies of the Indian soldiers are still to be recovered by the Indian forces as they lay unattended at the LoC. Security sources say the Indian army has yet to recover the bodies for fear of coming under fire from Pakistan,” sources claimed.
The sources identified the captured soldier as 22-year-old Chandu Babulal Chohan, son of Bashan Chohan, from Maharashtra. It said he has been shifted to Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Army has captured one Indian Army soldier Chandu Babulal Chohan S/O Bashan Chohan, 22 Y/O resident of Maharashtra at the LOC.The 22-year-old Indian soldier Chandu Babulal Chohan son of Bashan Chohan from Maharashtra captures by Pakistani forces near Line of Control, sources disclosed while talking to this correspondent from Tutta Pani after India claimed to have carried out surgical strikes in Azad Kashmir .Sources said bodies of Indian soldiers are still lying in the area near Tutta Pani Sector. Pakistan condemns LoC violations by India rejects Indian claim of surgical strikes, Foreign Secretary summons Indian high commissioner; condemns LOC ceasefire violations. The Pakistan Army captured an Indian army soldier and killed sixteen others in retaliation to India’s firing at the first line of defense at the Line of Control (LoC) at Tatta Pani, sector confirmed security sources. The capture and the casualties sustained occurred when the Indian army opened fire across the working boundary, killing two Pakistani soldiers.
