Pak FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi boycotts Jaishankar’s speech in US over Kashmir

Tuesday 01st October 2019 15:04 EDT
 
 

New York: Amid heightened Indo-Pak tensions, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, boycotted India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's opening statement at the meeting of the SAARC Council of Foreign Ministers, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York. Pakistan said that it will not engage with India "until and unless" it lifts the "siege" in Kashmir. Meanwhile, Jaishankar said "no" when asked to comment on the absence of his Pakistani counterpart during his opening statement.

Qureshi "refuses to attend Jaishankar's statement at the meeting of SAARC Council of Ministers," Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party tweeted. Qureshi arrived only after Jaishankar left the room after delivering his statement. When asked about coming late for the meeting, Qureshi said he doesn't want to sit with the Indian minister as a protest over Kashmir.

The meeting brought Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart face to face for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370 provisions. Tensions between the two countries have spiked since India effectively abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August. With Pakistan's continuous efforts to internationalise the Kashmir issue after India withdrew the special status, New Delhi has asserted that it was its "internal matter".

After the meeting, Qureshi claimed that Pakistan had secured the consent of the group to organise the SAARC summit in Islamabad next year. “If India thinks it is still a member of SAARC, it is most welcome to attend,” Qureshi said, adding that “no country” had objected to Pakistan’s proposal for the summit.

What happened last year?

Last year, India's then external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj left the room after her statement at the SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting, amid tensions between the two countries following the brutal killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad releasing postage stamps "glorifying" a slain Kashmiri militant.

The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad. But after a deadly terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir in September that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to "prevailing circumstances". The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet. Maldives and Sri Lanka are the seventh and eighth members of the initiative.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional grouping in Asia comprising India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The summits are usually held biennially hosted by a member state in alphabetical order. The last SAARC Summit in 2014 was held in Kathmandu.

Pak FM boycotts Jaishankar’s statement in US over Kashmir

New York: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday, 26 September, boycotted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's opening statement at the meeting of the SAARC Council of Foreign Ministers, with the country’s ruling party saying Pakistan will not engage with India "until and unless" it lifts the "siege" in Kashmir.

The meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York started in his absence. Qureshi "refuses to attend Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar's statement at the meeting of SAARC Council of Ministers," Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party tweeted.

Qureshi arrived only after Jaishankar left the room after delivering his statement. When asked about coming late for the meeting, Qureshi said he doesn't want to sit with the Indian minister as a protest over Kashmir.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar said "No" when asked to comment on the absence of his Pakistani counterpart during his opening statement. Tensions between the two countries have spiked since India effectively abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August.

India's decision evoked strong reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian ambassador.

Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue after India withdrew the special status, but New Delhi has asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 was its "internal matter".

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional grouping in Asia comprising India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

What Happened Last Year?

Last year, the then external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj left the room after her statement at the SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting, amid tensions between the two countries following the brutal killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad releasing postage stamps "glorifying" a slain Kashmiri militant.

The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad. But after a deadly terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir in September that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to "prevailing circumstances".

The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet. Maldives and Sri Lanka are the seventh and eighth members of the initiative.

SAARC summits are usually held biennially hosted by a member state in alphabetical order. The last SAARC Summit in 2014 was held in Kathmandu.


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