ISLAMABAD – Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has told the secretary-general of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) that the country will host the summit after “artificial barriers” in the way are eliminated.
During a meeting with SAARC Secretary-General Esala Ruwan Weerako on Wednesday, the foreign minister made a veiled dig at India.
The FM spoke on the recent lynching of a Sri Lankan manufacturing manager in Sialkot, adding that the incident had been denounced by Pakistan’s entire political leadership, religious scholars, and Pakistani people.
Pakistan’s foreign minister promised Esala that the country was committed to bringing the criminals to justice.
According to Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, SAARC can “change the quality of life of the people of South Asia” by fostering a welcoming and conducive climate in the region.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “the foreign minister highlighted Pakistan’s essential and active role in achieving SAARC’s genuine potential and making it a useful organization for regional cooperation and mutual benefit based on the concept of sovereign equality.”
FM Qureshi was appreciated for expressing his thoughts on many SAARC-related problems, and Esala assured him that the organization would make determined efforts to promote cooperation among member nations in order to fully realize SAARC’s potential.
The 19th SAARC summit was a scheduled diplomatic conference that was originally planned to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 15–19 November 2016 but got canceled after an attack on an Indian army camp in Kashmir. The summit was to be attended by the leaders of the eight SAARC member states and representatives of observers and guest states.
