SAARC overseas ministers’ meet cancelled after Pakistan insists on Taliban participation

Pakistan is insisting that the Taliban regime in Afghanistan be allowed to ship a consultant to the upcoming SAARC overseas ministers’ meet. This annual assembly was held just about in 2020 owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

The casual assembly of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Ministers was to be held in-person on September 25 on the sidelines of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.However, the Nepalese Foreign Ministry issued a communiqué saying that the meet stands cancelled owing to “lack of concurrence from all Member States”. Communiqué issued by Nepal’s Foreign Ministry | India TodaySources inform India Today that almost all SAARC member states refused to entertain Pakistan’s request to permit the Taliban regime to characterize Afghanistan within the casual assembly.Pakistan additionally insisted that not one of the representatives of the Afghan authorities led by Ashraf Ghani be allowed on the SAARC overseas ministers’ meet at any price.READ: Fissure widens between Pak Army and ISI chiefs over management in AfghanistanOwing to the opposition of most member states to those requests, a consensus couldn’t be reached and the SAARC overseas ministers’ meet slated for September 25 needed to be cancelled.The Taliban overthrew the democratically elected authorities in Afghanistan on August 15 of this yr. Following the withdrawal of US troops from Kabul on August 31, the Taliban introduced the formation of an interim cabinet to handle the nation’s affairs.Amir Khan Muttaqi was named the performing overseas minister within the Taliban regime led by Mullah Akhund, chief of the militant group’s strongest decision-making physique – the Rehbari Shura.However, only a few nations have recognised the Taliban regime because the respectable authorities representing the Afghan folks. PM Modi addressing SAARC leaders, together with Ashraf Ghani, in a video convention on March 15, 2020 | PTIAfghanistan is the youngest member state of SAARC, which has seven different member states – India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The SAARC Secretariat was arrange in Kathmandu on January 17, 1987.The grouping additionally has 9 observers, specifically China, the European Union (EU), Iran, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar and the US.