Saarc Summit likely to be a non-starter after Bhutan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan also pull out

US asks India and Pakistan to resolve their differences through dialogue, not violence

Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan have pulled out of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Summit to be hosted by Islamabad in November.

Including India, this makes four of the eight-members of the regional grouping deciding to boycott the Islamabad Saarc Summit. Apart from Pakistan, other members of the Saarc are Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. While these three countries haven’t followed suit in boycotting the meet.

On Tuesday, Bangladesh sent a communication to Saarc Chair Nepal about its inability to participate in the proposed Summit in Islamabad. It said “the growing interference in the internal affairs of Bangladesh by one country has created an environment which is not conducive to the successful hosting of the 19th Saarc Summit in Islamabad.”

Dhaka said it believes regional cooperation can “only go forward in a more congenial atmosphere.” In its communication, Bhutan blamed the “recent escalation of terrorism in the region” to have “seriously compromised the environment” for the holding of the summit. It said that it shared the concerns of some of the member countries (read India) on the deterioration of regional peace and security due to terrorism.

In its communication, Afghanistan said: “Due to increased level of violence and fighting as a result of terrorism imposed on Afghanistan”, the President Ashraf Ghani “with his responsibilities as the Commander-in-Chief will be fully engaged, and will not able to attend the Summit.”

In Washington, the US asked India and Pakistan to resolve their differences through diplomacy and not through violence. On New Delhi’s decision to not attend the Saarc Summit, the White House spokesperson said: "It would benefit the region. We want to see de-escalation in the political discourse between the two countries and greater communication and coordination between them."

The spokesperson said the US is not going to give a prescription to the two South Asian neighbours on how to deescalate, but that it was in their mutual interest to put aside tensions and establish more normal channels of communication.