India said Tuesday Pakistan’s plan to set a deadline for New Delhi to respond to the proposed SAARC summit in January will not work, agencies reported from the Indian capital.
“Nobody can set a deadline,” Yashwant Sinha, India’s Minister for External Affairs reportedly said. “SAARC works on the basis of consensus. One country cannot set a deadline for another,” Sinha is reported to have said in Seoul.
Sinha was reacting to a statement by Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Aziz Ahmad Khan who said Monday Islamabad would soon set a deadline for India and Bhutan to respond to the invitation for the proposed January summit.
Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives have agreed to Pakistan’s proposal to hold the summit from January 11 to 13. The seven foreign ministers meting in Kathmandu earlier this year agreed to hold the annual summit every year in January.
Pakistani spokesman said Islamabad would wait for a “few more days” before deciding on a cut-off date for a response from New Delhi and Thimpu. Strained relations between India and Pakistan, the two dominant partners of the seven nation SAARC, have marred the progress of the regional organization.
The Kathmandu regional summit this year suggested the meeting be held next January in Islamabad.