Islamabad, Sep 30 (PTI): Pakistan today postponed the SAARC Summit to be held here next month after India along with four other member states of the regional grouping decided against attending the meet.

"Pakistan deplores India's decision to impede the SAARC process by not attending the 19th SAARC Summit at Islamabad on 9-10 November 2016," the Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement.

It claimed that the spirit of the SAARC Charter is "violated" when a member state casts the shadow of its bilateral problems on the multilateral forum for regional cooperation.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was looking forward to welcome the SAARC leaders for their participation in the summit. All preparations had been made for "successful" holding of the summit, the statement said.

It alleged that decision by India to "derail the summit" effectively "contradicts" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own call to fight against poverty in the region.

"India's decision to abstain from the Summit on the basis of unfounded assumptions on the Uri incident is a futile effort to divert attention of the world from the atrocities" by India in Kashmir, the Foreign Office said.

"Pakistan attaches great importance to regional cooperation under the umbrella of SAARC...Therefore, Pakistan remains committed to hosting the 19th SAARC Summit at Islamabad at the earliest so that the objectives of regional cooperation under the SAARC umbrella can be pursued more vigorously," it said.

The Foreign Office said a new set of dates for holding of the summit in Islamabad will be announced soon, through Nepal, which is currently the SAARC Chair.

"Accordingly, we have conveyed the same to the Prime Minister of Nepal," it said.

Besides India, three other SAARC members -- Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan -- pulled out of the summit, indirectly blaming Pakistan for creating an environment which is not right for the successful holding of the meet.

Sri Lanka also pulled out of the SAARC Summit today, becoming the fifth country to do so.
Citing continuous cross border terrorism by Pakistan, India had announced earlier this week that "in the prevailing circumstances, the Government of India is unable to participate in the proposed Summit in Islamabad."

SAARC member states include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Earlier news

No one will be allowed to cast an evil eye on Pakistan: Sharif

Islamabad, Sep 30 (PTI) : Terming "Indian aggression" as a threat to the entire region, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today warned that Pakistan is also capable of executing surgical strikes and will not allow anyone to "cast an evil eye" on it.

Chairing a special Cabinet meeting to review the security situation in the country, Sharif said that Pakistan will take all necessary steps to protect its people and territorial integrity in case of any aggression or violation of the Line of Control (LoC). He said that Indian aggression constituted a threat to the entire region and Pakistan would take all measures to protect its territorial integrity.

"No one will be allowed to cast an evil eye on Pakistan," Sharif said, adding that Pakistan was fully capable of executing surgical strikes. "The nation is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the valiant armed forces to defend the motherland."

His comments came a day after India conducted surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC with the Army inflicting "significant casualties" on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from PoK.

Pakistan has dismissed as "fabrication of truth" India's claim and termed it as a "quest" by India to create media hype by rebranding cross-border fire as surgical strike.

Sharif said that all steps would be taken to prevent LoC violations or aggression and added that Pakistan’s resolve to establish peace remained strong. He said the leadership and people of Pakistan are united in their resolve to counter any aggressive Indian designs, adding that "Pakistan's commitment for peace must not be construed as weakness".

Sharif also raised Kashmir issue said that it was the "unfinished agenda of the partition". He said that atrocities in Kashmir could not crush Kashmiris' right to self-determination. "Indian atrocities" there are "unacceptable", he said.

Calling for a probe into the September 18 Uri attack, Sharif said blaming Pakistan for orchestrating the attack was beyond comprehension. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that Pakistan does not want escalation of tension but is ready to meet any eventuality.

The Cabinet also joined the Prime Minister in completely rejecting the Indian claims of carrying out "surgical strikes". It condemned "Indian accusations in the wake of the Uri attack and pledged to expose India before the international community".

The Cabinet "reiterated Pakistan's call for free, fair and impartial investigation into the killings of innocent civilians, under the UN auspices and called upon the international community to take notice of the massive human rights violations".

It also welcomed the decision of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to send a fact-finding mission to Kashmir. The Cabinet expressed Pakistan's unwavering commitment to provide political, moral and diplomatic support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

It "rejected the provocative statements of Indian leadership alleging Pakistan for the Uri attack without any evidence", terming it an attempt to deflect international community’s attention from the situation in Kashmir.

It was noted that the "statements of the Indian Prime Minister had provided a fresh evidence of Indian involvement in subversive and terrorist activities in Pakistan, which was a clear contravention of the UN Charter and international law".

Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir said India is creating artificial tension in its attempt to divert attention of the world from its atrocities against Kashmiris. He said Pakistan's defence is in strong hands and the country would continue to raise voice for rights of Kashmiris.

Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Syed Riaz Hussain Pirzada regretted that instead of giving right of self-determination to Kashmiris, India is resorting to terrorism against Pakistan. He said the world community should take notice of India's belligerence.