Sri Lanka pulls out, SAARC summit postponed
Q. Which country was to hold the SAARC summit in November 2016 that has now been postponed?- Published on 03 Oct 16a. Nepal
b. Maldives
c. Pakistan
d. Afghanistan
ANSWER: Pakistan
Pakistan officially postponed the SAARC summit in November after Sri Lanka added to the criticism by pulling out of the summit becoming the fifth nation to do so
- Previously, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka had also pulled out of the SAARC Summit
- Only Nepal and Maldives did not object
- China called for restraint, asking the countries to leave aside tensions
- Meanwhile close ally Russia is currently exercising with Pakistan in the first ever counter terrorism operations for the two countries
- Russia called for de-escalation of tensions between the two nations
- China has refused to criticise Pakistan on terror groups though some of these train Uighur militants in Xinjiang
- It has also failed to allow UN Security Council's 1267 committee to ban Jaish e Mohammed's Masood Azhar, a big sore point with India.
- India had submitted a detailed dossier on Azhar and moved the UNSC 1267 committee following the January 2 attack on an Indian airforce station in Pathankot.
- In March, India's submission was considered by the counter-terrorism executive directorate for technical aspects of the evidence provided. The technical team then with the support of the US, the UK and France had sent it to all the members.
- India had said the sanctions committee was taking a "selective approach" in tackling terrorism.
