Sri Lanka too pulls out of the SAARC summit -Governance Now

Sri Lanka too pulls out of the SAARC summit

Sri Lanka became the fifth member country which is unwilling to attend the SAARC summit in Islamabad

GN Bureau | September 30, 2016

#Sri Lanka #SAARC summit #India #Pakistan #Uri attack #terror #Afghanistan #Islamabad

India’s diplomatic heft in South Asia became clear when Sri Lanka too decided not to attend the SAARC summit in Islamabad.

With this, five members of the eight-member South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) have pulled out of the summit.

Sri Lanka's unwillingness to attend comes three days after India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan wrote to Nepal, which is the current chair of SAARC, conveying they are pulling out of the summit. They cited rising terrorism in the region.

In an official statement, Sri Lanka said that it “regrets that the prevailing environment in the region is not conducive for holding the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad on 9th and 10th November 2016.”

It said that 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.”

Colombo said that it 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.

Comments

Other News

Lokayan 26: Indian naval ship sets sail from Livorno, Italy

The Indian Navy’s sail training ship, INS Sudarshini, set sail from Livorno, Italy, on Saturday on completion of a successful port call. During her stay, the ship participated in a series of professional interactions and cross-training visits, strengthening bonds of friendship and maritime partners

Global South: Health cooperation needs institutions to make solutions scalable

September 12 marks the International Day for South-South Cooperation, commemorating the 1978 Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA). Forty-eight years later, its central proposition remains relevant: countries of the Global South can draw on their own knowledge, experience and innovations to address shared d

Reading the mind of Xi Jinping

As India prepares to host the 18th BRICS Summit this weekend, and as prime minister Narendra Modi is set to hold a bilateral meet with president Xi Jinping, China’s growing global influence and the changing dynamics of India-China relations will be under focus. But to understand where China is head

BRICS at 20: From economic weight to global influence

This year marks 20 years of BRICS, with India set to host the grouping’s leaders’ summit this weekend. The anniversary offers an opportune moment to assess BRICS’ growing importance at a time when the effectiveness of global governance and the credibility of multilateralism are under in

Former president Ram Nath Kovind on some of his unforgettable journeys

Triumph of the Indian Republic: My Life, My Struggles By Ram Nath Kovind Rupa Publications, 400 pages, Rs 795 All our presidents so far stand out, each for a different reason. Ram Nath Kovind, the 14th president of India, from 2017 t

Uday Kotak on history, Indian economy, growth and more

Pathbreakers: How 10 Visionary Leaders Transformed India by award-winning journalists By Sucheta Dalal and Debashis Basu Rupa Publications, 304 pages, Rs 695