SAARC Meet Not Postponed, PM Discusses Situation With Nepal King

India’s decision to stay away from the Saarc summit appears to be a deliberate attempt to send a strong signal to Dhaka about Delhi’s “dissatisfaction�? with the state of bilateral relations.

India had cited deteriorating law and order in Bangladesh and the “political turmoil�? in Nepal as the reasons for its withdrawal from the summit scheduled in Dhaka. It has since been postponed.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna today rejected Bangladesh’s charge that the decision owed to developments in Delhi’s relations with some South Asian neighbors.

Let me clarify,�? Sarna said. “We have not sought postponement due to any developments in bilateral relations with Saarc countries. We have drawn attention to developments that have an impact on the entire region of South Asia and not just India. He cited the strong statements the heads of missions of the European Union and US assistant secretary of state Christina Rocca had issued in the past few days on the violence directed against political leaders in Bangladesh and deteriorating law and order.

Sources, however, said the Indian establishment — frustrated with Dhaka’s failure to enter into any “constructive dialogue�? with Delhi over the past few years — took the opportunity of the Nepal royal coup to indeed send out a signal to Dhaka. India has reason to postpone SAARC summit: expert. Kolkata, Feb 3 (UNI) Experts on international relations have virtually held hosts Bangladesh’s failure to prosecute the political terrorists and the Nepal King’s coup responsible for the postponement of the 13th SAARC summit for the second time. ‘Killing of former Finance Minister on the eve of the SAARC summit, specially after last year’s grenade attack on former Prime Minister Sk Hasina, is a definite case of deteriorating law and order situation in the neighboring country and Bangladesh has failed to make any breakthrough in both the cases,'’ said a senior professor of International Relations of a local University.

He said the coup by the King in Nepal to dislodge a democratic government could not be seen either as mere bilateral matters. This kind of sudden change will definitely affect several countries in the region because of sudden vested interest involved in it and likely spurt in violence by the Maoist rebels, active in several countries in the region,'’ he pointed out. A senior intelligence official said terrorism and its sponsors were one of the main issues on the agenda of the 13th SAARC summit and India was scheduled to create pressure on both Pakistan and Bangladesh for the two countries’ continuous support to terrorists, who had been fomenting trouble in India. The speculation that India is not too eager to meet Pakistan on the sidelines of the SAARC either on peace process or on Kashmir issue is somewhat wild since Pakistan had been raising the Kashmir issue as a condition for peace in all kinds of platforms,'’ he said.

The Bangladesh government which had made elaborate preparations for the event has reasons to feel frustrated,�? the editorial said. The daily New Age carried the reaction of Bangladesh’s opposition leaders to the postponement, many of whom implicitly supported India’s decision. Awami League general secretary, Mr Abdul Jalil said, “the Indian government refrained from joining the summit because it was concerned about the deteriorating security in Bangladesh and no leaders of the foreign countries can but be worried at the situation, especially after the killing of Shah A M S Kibria�?.

Former Bangladesh president and chairman of the Jatiya Party Hussain Mohammad Ershad subscribed to similar views saying: “The heads of the SAARC governments cannot keep faith in our law and order despite a blanket security net before the summit. In a commentary in the Bengali daily Prothom Alo, former foreign secretary Abul Ahsan said: “The decision of postponement of SAARC was surprising and unexpected�?. “It’s a shock for the advancement of SAARC.�?