Pakistan Boycotts COVID19 Pandemic Meeting Hosted by India.
Pakistan decided not to participate in virtual meeting of Trade officials of all Saarc countries on Wednesday. The agenda was to discuss the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on intra-regional trade and the effect of travel restrictions. Reportedly, it is a follow-up meeting to the Saarc leaders’ video conference held 15th day of last month. However, […] The post Pakistan Boycotts COVID19 Pandemic Meeting Hosted by India. appeared first on Nation Bytes.
Pakistan decided not to participate in virtual meeting of Trade officials of all Saarc countries on Wednesday. The agenda was to discuss the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on intra-regional trade and the effect of travel restrictions.
Reportedly, it is a follow-up meeting to the Saarc leaders’ video conference held 15th day of last month. However, Dr. Zafar Mirza, PM’s Special Assistant on Health, was present in that conference on behalf of Pakistan.
Pakistan foreign office informs that such meetings are only fruitful if group’s secretariat Lead the meeting NOT India.
Activities such as today’s Trade Officials’ Video-Conference could only be effective if spearheaded by the Saarc Secretariat. Since the Saarc Secretariat was not part of today’s Video-Conference, Pakistan chose not to participate,” the FO said while explaining Pakistan’s absence from the conference.
Noticeably, India is constantly working to sideline Pakistan from Saarc. However, India forcing the postponement of the bloc’s 19th summit in 2016 is also part of the game. The summit was previously due to held be in Islamabad.
Moreso, Pakistan has since been insisting that any regional effort to fight the virus has to be spearheaded by the SAARC secretariat based in Nepal.
Because of this reason Pakistan pulled out of the virtual conference, once again highlighting the tensions between the two neighbours.
The post Pakistan Boycotts COVID19 Pandemic Meeting Hosted by India. appeared first on Nation Bytes.
Gold PURITY
