India finally bit the bullet and decided late on Tuesday evening to boycott the forthcoming Saarc summit in Islamabad in November this year, citing cross-border attacks and interference by “one countr
India finally bit the bullet and decided late on Tuesday evening to boycott the forthcoming Saarc summit in Islamabad in November this year, citing cross-border attacks and interference by “one country” (Pakistan) in the internal affairs of Saarc member states that created a scenario not conducive to successful holding of the summit, adding that regional cooperation could take place only in “an atmosphere free of terror”. Sources said there are indications that Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan have also expressed reservations on attending the summit and may boycott it along with India. This may take the number of countries staying away in the eight-member grouping to four.
Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives may then be placed in a difficult situation. Whether the summit is held or is cancelled by Pakistan remains to be seen, while the entire future of Saarc now hangs in doubt as the South Asian regional grouping has been virtually torn apart by the India-Pakistan hostility.
In a late-night reaction, Pakistan termed the Indian boycott of the Islamabad summit “unfortunate”, and accused India in turn of backing terrorism in Pakistan, saying the reason given by India for staying away was an “excuse”. It said it had taken note of the Indian spokesperson’s announcement, but added it was yet to get any official communication in this regard.
These developments took place on a day when India had earlier summoned Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit yet again and issued him a second demarche, demanding Pakistan not allow its soil to be used for terrorism against India. This is the culmination of a series of events triggered by the cross-border attack on an Army base at Uri in J&K near the Line of Control that left Indian Army 18 soldiers dead.
In a statement, the external affairs ministry said: “The official spokesperson stated that India has conveyed to the current Saarc chair, Nepal, that increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in the region and growing interference in the internal affairs of member states by one country have created an environment that is not conducive to the successful holding of the 19th Saarc summit in Islamabad in November 2016. India remains steadfast in its commitment to regional cooperation, connectivity and contacts but believes that these can only go forward in an atmosphere free of terror. In the prevailing circumstances, the Government of India is unable to participate in the proposed summit in Islamabad. We also understand that some other Saarc member states have also conveyed their reservations (on) attending the Islamabad summit in November.”
Senior Indian government sources said Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan were also refusing to attend the summit. Afghanistan is furious at cross-border attacks against it from Pakistani soil while Bangladesh is upset over Pakistani support to radical elements in that country which played a role in the genocide of 1971. Bhutan is closely allied to India.
In a major breakthrough in the investigations into the attack on the Uri Army camp, meanwhile, the security forces have apprehended two Pakistani nationals, both operatives of Jaish-e-Mohammed, who had helped the four-member terror module involved in killing 18 Army personnel infiltrate into India. The duo, identified as Faizal Hussain Awan and Ahasan Khursheed, are now being interrogated for further details by a team of multiple agencies, including the National Investigation Agency and Intelligence Bureau. Awan, 20, is the son of Gul Akbar and a resident Potha Jahangir in Muzaffarabad, while Khursheed, 19, is the son of Mohammed Khurshid, a resident of Khiliana Kalan, Muzaffarabad.
The two Jaish operatives were caught in a swift operation by the security forces a few days ago and are being held at an undisclosed location. The NIA took formal custody on Tuesday and will seek their transit remand from the court to bring them to New Delhi. Sources said this “significant catch” further confirms Pakistani involvement in the Uri attack.
The details of the arrest and investigations were shared with Pakistan’s high commissioner Abdul Basit, who was summoned by foreign secretary S. Jaishankar on Tuesday and issued a demarche. Mr Jaishankar also told the high commissioner that during interrogation the two Jaish operatives revealed the identity of one of the militants as Hafiz Ahmed, son of Feroz, a resident of Dharbang in Muzaffarabad.
Other details that nails Pakistan on the Uri issue that were given to Mr Basit include the identity of the two Pakistani handlers, Mohammed Kabir Awan and Basharat, both of whom are also suspected to be linked to Jaish. They are suspected to have been involved in the training and providing details of the Uri camp to the four militants who eventually carried out the attack.
During interrogation, the two guides, Awan and Khursheed, also disclosed they had helped the module infiltrate across the LoC just a few hours before the attack early on September 18 morning. They also said they were diected by a top Jaish commandant in PoK to facilitate the iniltration of militants who attacked the Uri camp. Though the two are associated with Jaish, they had also been helping militants from other terror outfits to infiltrate into India.
India told Pakistan it was willing to provide consular access to these terror operatives. In a bid to further reiterate India’s argument that Pakistan was sponsoring terror activities here, the foreign secretary also raised the arrest of another Pakistani, Abdul Qayoom, who is a resident of Sialkot and associated with Lashkak-e-Tayyaba. Qayoom was arrested from the Molu sector by the Army and during interrogation revealed he had undergone three weeks’ training with Lashkar militants and donated substantial funds to Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, their front organisation.
“We would once again strongly urge the Government of Pakistan to take seriously its commitment not to allow terrorist attacks against India from its soil and territory under its control. Continuing cross-border terrorist attacks from Pakistan against India are unacceptable,” Mr Jaishankar said.
New Delhi has already offered to provide Pakistan with fingerprints and DNA samples of the terrorists killed in Uri and Poonch, if that country wished to investigate these cross-border attacks. The Pakistani high commissioner had been summoned a few days ago as well when India had shared evidence on weapons, GPS details, food packets and medicines with Pakistani markings recovered from the slain militants.
The security agencies are trying to decode two wireless sets of Japanese make recovered from the militants to ascertain if they were in touch with their handlers, Mohammed Kabir Awan and Basharat, in PoK during the attack. Sources said the wireless sets were similar to one recovered from another Lashkar militant, Bahadur Ali.
“All these wireless sets have been altered to ensure they operate on a particular frequency that cannot be detected by Indian intelligence agencies,” a senior security official said.
