SAARC ministers' meet cancelled after Pak insists on Taliban's participation

SAARC comprises eight Member States: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. States with observer status include Australia, China, the European Union, Iran, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea, and the United States.

 

According to the reports, the Imran Khan led Pakistan government insisted that none of the representatives of the Afghan government led by Ashraf Ghani be allowed at the SAARC foreign ministers' meet at any cost. They also demanded that the Taliban be allowed to participate and send a representative for the SAARC summit.

 

However, the majority of SAARC members including India and chair Nepal shot down Islamabad's demand.Owing to the opposition of most member states to these requests, a consensus could not be reached and the SAARC foreign ministers' meeting slated for September 25 had to be cancelled.

The Nepalese Foreign Ministry issued a communiqué saying that the meet stands cancelled owing to "lack of concurrence from all Member States". A note verbale by Nepal foreign ministry sent on September 21 said, "due to lack of concurrence from all member states as of today, the informal meeting of the SAARC council of ministers proposed to be held in person on September 25, 2021....will not take place". Nepal is the chair of the grouping. The SAARC secretariat also sent a similar letter of cancellation of the meeting.

 

The Taliban regime has not yet been recognised by governments across the world. In fact, many of the top Taliban cabinet ministers are blacklisted by the United Nations.

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