After India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan decide to skip Saarc summit in Pakistan

NEW DELHI: India's move to isolate Pakistan in its neighbourhood gained traction on Wednesday with Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan officially confirming that they too were skipping the Saarc summit in Islamabad.
In its front-page lead yesterday , TOI had reported that these three countries were likely to pull out of the meet.
On Tuesday , India opted out of the summit citing cross-border terrorism and Pakistan's “interference“ in internal affairs of the member nations.The endorse ment of this view by the three other neighbours has come as a blow to Islamabad.
Pakistan can't dismiss their charge -that its actions are destabilising the region -as a “diversionary“ tactic, as it has done while dealing with India.The development also makes it clear that the other Saarc nations are not ready to buy Pakistan's claim that the Uri attack was staged by India; rather, it's evident that they see Pakistan as the problem.
Indian officials said the summit is now likely to be postponed. However, the final announcement by Saarc chair Nepal is expected after the return of secretary general Arjun Bahadur Thapa to Kathmandu from the US on Saturday . As per the Saarc charter, the summit can take place only on the basis of consensus and even one member's absence is enough for its postponement or cancellation.
The last time India ensured a cancellation of Saarc summit in Pakistan was in 1999 because of its reservations over the military coup in Pakistan that year that catapulted Gen Pervez Musharraf to power. Officials, however, denied India had suggested that the venue for the summit be changed.
Like India, Bangladesh too has conveyed to Saarc that growing interference in its internal affairs by “one country'' had created an environment which is not conducive for successful holding of the summit. “Bangladesh, as the initiator of the Saarc process, remains steadfast in its commitment to regional cooperation, connectivity and contacts but believes that these can only go forward in a more congenial atmosphere,'' said an official communication from Dhaka.
Calling off the proposed visit to Islamabad by its President Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan blamed Pakistan, without naming it, for terrorism “imposed'' on it. Due to increased level of violence and fighting as a result of im posed terrorism on Afghanistan, it said in a statement, Ghani as commander-in-chief would be fully engaged and unable to attend the Saarc summit.
Perhaps India's best friend in the neighbourhood, Bhutan pulled out expressing concern over escalation of terrorism in the region which it said “compromised the environment for the successful holding of the 19th Saarc summit in Islamabad''.
As Pakistan continues with its campaign to interna tionally highlight its allegations regarding atrocities committed by Indian forces in Kashmir, its officials said Islamabad is likely to retaliate by pulling out of the Heart of Asia summit on Afghanistan slated to be held in Amritsar in December.
India called off the Saarc visit after Pakistan refused to accept evidence confirming the identity of the Uri army camp attackers as Pakistani nationals, and instead, demanded an international probe into theattack.