Following India’s footsteps, Sri Lanka also expressed its unwillingness to attend the upcoming the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit, which was scheduled to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan this November.
Sri Lanka’s decision comes just two days after Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan too decided to pull out of the summit, citing that the environment is not conducive to host such a meet.
A statement from the Sri Lankan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that, “Regret that prevailing environment in region is not conducive for holding 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad on 9th & 10th November. General Provisions of SAARC Charter require decisions at all levels shall be taken on the basis of unanimity and this applies to the convening of meetings of Heads of State or Government of SAARC Member States as well.”
“We condemn terrorism in all forms and stress in this regard need to deal with issue of terrorism in region in decisive manner,” it said.
"As a founding member of SAARC, committed to regional cooperation, Sri Lanka hopes that the steps required to ensuring our region’s peace and security will be taken to create an environment that is conducive for the pursuit of regional cooperation," the statement added.
Earlier, India had pulled out of the SAARC summit, citing that the current atmosphere was not conductive for holding a successful summit, the same reason had been cited by all the other countries that followed suit.
"India has conveyed to current SAARC Chair Nepal that increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in the region and growing interference in the internal affairs of Member States by one country have created an environment that is not conducive to the successful holding of the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad in November 2016," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
"In the prevailing circumstances, the Government of India is unable to participate in the proposed Summit in Islamabad", the statement said.
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Nandini
