External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reacted sharply and condemned this behaviour of Qureshi. He left the meeting after finishing his speech.
New York| The South Asian Cooperation Organization (SAARC) countries met in New York on Thursday, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session. However, Pakistan did not leave this chance to stage a drama. Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi refused to attend the meeting when India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar was speaking at the event.
Qureshi, however, attended the meeting for only half an hour later. Qureshi came out and said that the next SAARC Summit would be held in Islamabad.
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S Jaishankar reacted sharply and condemned this behaviour of Pakistan. He left the meeting after finishing his speech. He also held discussions with representatives of SAARC countries for about 45 minutes. When the last half hour of the meeting was left, Qureshi joined it. However, Pakistan’s ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) tweeted that Qureshi did not attend the meeting of SAARC countries.
Jaishankar’s Angry tweet:
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar said that this is not just a story of missed opportunities, but also of deliberate obstacles. Terrorism is between them. We believe that eliminating terrorism is the first condition for the region’s survival.
Ours is really not just a story of missed opportunities but also of deliberate obstacles. Terrorism is among them.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) September 26, 2019
Next SAARC Summit in Islamabad: Qureshi
SAARC is an organization of South Asian countries. Its members are India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Qureshi said that he did not want to sit with the Foreign Minister of India following the protests over the Kashmir issue. After the meeting, he said that the representatives of the SAARC countries have decided that the next meeting will be Islamabad. The date and time have to be fixed for this.
Modi-Imran Khan face-off at UNGA today
Pakistan is opposing India’s decision to abrogate Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan PM Imran Khan is constantly trying to raise the Kashmir issue on the international stage. Meanwhile, the Indian government has already clarified that Kashmir is our internal issue. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan may raise the Kashmir issue today in the United Nations General Assembly. After this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also address the gathering.
India opposed Pakistan in the meeting last year
In 2018, former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj walked out of the meeting of Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries. During this time, India had opposed the killing of policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and the issue of a postage stamp of Kashmiri terrorist in Pakistan. In 2016, the SAARC meeting was held in Islamabad. Earlier, there was a terrorist attack on the army camp in Uri and India did not join it. Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also refused to attend the meeting later. After this, the meeting in Islamabad was postponed.
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