Finance minister Arun Jaitley is unlikely to visit Pakistan next week to attend the two-day conference of Saarc finance ministers, an indication of the extent of strain in relations between the two ne
Finance minister Arun Jaitley is unlikely to visit Pakistan next week to attend the two-day conference of Saarc finance ministers, an indication of the extent of strain in relations between the two neighbouring countries.
Finance secretary Ashok Lavasa or some other senior bureaucrat from finance ministry may represent India at the Saarc finance ministers’ meet. The conference is scheduled on August 25-26 in Islamabad.
“It is due to political reasons that the finance minister may not visit Pakistan. You all know what happened last time (during home minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Islamabad earlier this month) and what is happening,” said sources.
The development comes a day after PM Modi, during his Independence Day address to the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort, brought up the issue of Pakistani atrocities on the people of Balochistan and PoK, saying that they have thanked him for raising the issue. Though the PM did not make any reference to Kashmir Valley, which is witnessing continued violence after the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, he accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorists and celebrating killings in India.
During Rajnath Singh’s visit to Pakistan, barbs were exchanged between him and Pakistan interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and they had a tense and uneasy handshake during the Saarc meeting. Moreover, Paki-stani authorities did not allow entry of Indian mediapersons inside the venue of 7th Saarc home ministers meeting in Islamabad.
Mr Singh had informed Rajya Sabha that after the meeting was over, Pakistan’s home minister, who was the host, invited the participants for lunch but left in a car soon thereafter, skipping the lunch himself. “Keeping in mind the country’s prestige, I did what I should have done. I have no complaints. I had not gone there for lunch,” he had said.
