Pak to still go ahead with SAARC Summit despite backlash

Unfazed by India and three other SAARC nations deciding to pull out from the summit here, Pakistan today said it will still hold the meet in November as scheduled which flies in the face of the SAARC charter under which even if one head of government skips the event, it gets automatically postponed or cancelled.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said Pakistan will host the 19th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in November, Radio Pakistan reported today.
Zakaria was quoted as saying that it was learnt from the Indian External Affairs Ministry's tweet that India is not going to participate in the SAARC Summit, a decision he called "unfortunate".

"While we have not received any official communication in this regard, the Indian announcement is unfortunate," he said.
The spokesperson also said Pakistan is committed to regional peace and will continue working for the broader interest of the people of the region, according to the report.
Separately, Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said India is making propaganda to foil the conference that was scheduled to be held in November, according to Pakistan Today newspaper.

Besides India, three other SAARC members - Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan - have pulled out of the summit, indirectly blaming Pakistan for "creating an environment which is not right for the successful holding" of the meet.

Under the SAARC charter, the summit is automatically postponed or cancelled even if one member country skips the event.
(Reopens FGN34)
Meanwhile, Geo TV quoting official sources said Pakistan has been forced to postpone the summit due to India's refusal to participate in it.
The TV channel quoted Aziz as saying that SAARC secretariat has not yet informed officially about postponement of the conference.
He said chances are that SAARC Summit will be postponed, according to the report.
The foreign adviser added that whenever the conference takes place, it will be held in Pakistan.
Aziz said that it is not the first time India is not attending the regional summit and that it had earlier also caused the summit to be postponed four times.

He added that even if one of the member pulls out, the conference cannot go on as per schedule.
The conference was previously scheduled for November 9 and 10.
There were also reports that Nepal, the current chair of the SAARC, is trying to move the conference out of Pakistan in an effort to salvage the summit.