Some senior diplomats, during the SAARC Ministerial Meet held on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York on Friday, spoke about Pakistan raising the issue of hosting the SAARC summit this time, but there was no positive reaction from any member nations.
While terrorism was spoken about by one and all as a common topic, one of the diplomats said Pakistan wanted to host the SAARC summit soon, according to a Mail Today report.
Another diplomat, while sharing his views, said the "atmosphere was not conducive" to host the summit in Pakistan, and everyone in the room agreed.
In an attempt to interpret the situation in the hall, Mail Today spoke to several diplomats and representatives of various member nations. They were asked if anyone in the forum pointed out that terrorism was emanating from Pakistan.
In response to this, a senior official pointed out that although everyone, including India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, spoke about terrorism, no one pointed at one another on this issue.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who attended the meeting, delivered her speech and left without attending lunch. The rest of the session was taken over by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.
There was no exchange of words between Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers, said the report. Meanwhile, one of the diplomats said although the atmosphere was cold, there was no open confrontation.
The SAARC meet last year was unanimously cancelled after India initiated a boycott of Pakistan saying Islamabad had not taken any real action over terror attacks.
An officer pointed out that there had been no developments in the SAARC projects with Pakistan that India had initiated.
The decision of Pakistan holding the summit remains highly unlikely until Islamabad improves its terror policy by leaps and bounds and destroys the existing terror infrastructure within its borders.
