Pak Wanted Taliban To Represent Afghanistan, SAARC Meet Cancelled: Reports

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) conference of foreign ministers scheduled for Saturday in New York has been cancelled.

Pakistan wanted the Taliban to represent Afghanistan at the SAARC meeting, according to trustworthy sources.

The idea was opposed by India and a few other members, and the meeting was cancelled due to a lack of consensus or agreement.

The meeting, which takes place every year on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, was hosted by Nepal.

India has thus far refused to recognise the Taliban. The world has yet to recognise the new leadership in Kabul, and the UN has placed top cabinet ministers on a no-fly list.

The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, is unlikely to attend any UN or related meetings.

Indeed, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the Taliban is a non-inclusive administration, and that the world should think twice before adopting or recognising the Afghan regime.

He further stated that women and minorities in Kabul have no representation in the government.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka make up the SAARC, a regional intergovernmental organisation in South Asia.

According to reports, the majority of SAARC countries agreed to keep an empty chair for Afghanistan during the meeting. Pakistan, on the other hand, refused to cooperate, and the conference was called off.

The summit has been cancelled, according to the SAARC Secretariat, due to a lack of agreement from all member states as of today.