India unlikely to participate in SAARC Summit this year too: Sources

India is unlikely to participate in the 20th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit, scheduled to be held in Islamabad this year, repeating its strongest diplomatic move of boycotting the summit two years ago.

According to the sources, talks and terrorism cannot go along.

Pakistan is reportedly aggressively seeking support from smaller South Asian nations to host the SAARC Summit in Islamabad this year. Sri Lanka and Nepal have already backed Islamabad.

In 2016, in the wake of militant attacks, particularly the Pathankot and the Uri attack, India boycotted the 19th SAARC Summit which was to be hosted by Pakistan. Subsequently, all the SAARC members had boycotted the summit.

The eight-member bloc includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The SAARC Summit is held in different South Asian Nations, every 12-18 months.