As India announced that it will be pulling out from the 19th SAARC summit to be held in Islamabad in November. After that Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan have expressed to Nepal, the chair of SAARC, that they too will not be able to attend the summit.

The Pakistan was blamed by the three of the countries in different ways for the current situation and asserted that it was not favorable for the summit. A formal announcement of the summit putting off will be made in Kathmandu in the next few days.

“The government of Nepal has received communications from the SAARC secretariat transmitting the diplomatic notes from four SAARC member states namely, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India in which they have conveyed their inability to participate in the 19th SAARC summit scheduled for November 9 and 10 in Islamabad, stating that the current regional environment is not conducive to the successful holding of the summit”, said Nepal Foreign Ministry in the statement.

“We have taken this development seriously. As the current chair of SAARC, the government of Nepal strongly urges that a conducive environment be created for the 19th SAARC summit soon by ensuring the participation of all member states in line with the spirit of the SAARC charter,” the Ministry added.