Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will not be attending the SAARC ministerial conference in Islamabad later this month, according to government sources. Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das will represent India instead.
Jaitley was supposed to travel to Islamabad for the meeting to be hosted by Pakistan on 25 and 26 August. Pakistan’s Finance Ministry had earlier said that Pakistan would play a “good host” and avoid a repetition of the tense atmosphere that prevailed during Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit and accord a “warm welcome” to Mr Jaitley.
Given the current hostile atmosphere in Indo-Pak bilateral ties, sources in New Delhi had earlier claimed that it was far from certain whether Jaitley would travel to Islamabad.
The SAARC Meet comes in the shadow of Rajnath Singh’s visit to Islamabad earlier this month where barbs were exchanged between Singh and Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who only had a tense and uneasy handshake during the SAARC meeting. The duo also traded repartees over issues of terrorism and violence in Kashmir.
All regional countries except Bangladesh have confirmed the participation of their finance ministers.The meetings are taking place ahead of the SAARC Summit to be held in November in Islamabad.
Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit’s comment in New Delhi that Pakistan was dedicating its Independence Day to Kashmir’s “freedom’’ caused quite an uproar.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)