New Delhi: Amid the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan that is now being governed by the Taliban, the meeting of the foreign ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which was scheduled to be held in New York on the sidelines of the high-level 76th UN General Assembly session on Saturday, has been cancelled. The foreign ministers’ meet cancelled due to lack of consent from the member countries on Pakistan’s request to allow the participation of the Taliban, said a report. The Pakistan government reportedly insisted on the participation of the Taliban, which usurped power in Afghanistan last month after overthrowing the Ashraf Ghani-led government.
India along with some other members objected to the proposal and due to lack of consensus or concurrence meet has been cancelled. Nepal was the host of the meet, which is annually held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Taliban has not been recognised by India to date. The new regime in Kabul is still not recognised by the world and top cabinet ministers are blacklisted by the UN.
Amir Khan Muttaqi is the acting foreign minister of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan and he is unlikely to attend any UN and affiliated meetings. In fact, last week Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meet said that the Taliban is a non-inclusive government, the world must think before accepting or recognising the regime in Afghanistan.
He also pointed out that women, minorities have no representation in the government in Kabul. The SAARC is the regional intergovernmental organization of eight countries of South Asia–Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
It is learnt that the majority of members in SAARC agreed that empty chair can be kept for Afghanistan during the meet. However, Pakistan did not agree and the meet was called off.
Speaking to news agency ANI, SAARC Secretariat said that the meeting was cancelled due to the lack of concurrence from all member states as of today.
(With ANI inputs)
