All About SAARC Meeting In Islamabad

It has been official for some days that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be representing India at the 7th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation's (SAARC) meeting of Home/Interior Ministers scheduled to take place on August 3 and 4.

This will be the second occasion for Singh to represent India as its Home Minister in a SAARC meeting of Home/Interior ministers. In September 2014, Singh had attended the 6th meeting of home/interior ministers held at Kathmandu, Nepal.

"The Home Minister will be representing India at the seventh meeting of the SAARC ministers of Interior/Home, which is being hosted by Pakistan on August 4 in Islamabad. This would be preceded by the seventh meeting of the SAARC secretaries of Interior/Home on August 3. The seventh meeting of the SAARC immigration authorities will take place on August 2," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Vikas Swarup said last week.

What's On Agenda?

First and foremost these meetings discuss regional cooperation on a number of security-related matters. The home/interior ministers and the Secretaries also take stock of progress in various regional mechanisms for strengthening security cooperation.

"Our participation is in the context of our 'neighbourhood first' policy and our commitment to regional cooperation within the SAARC framework," Swarup had said.

But according to an ANI report quoting sources, India is expected to raise cross-border terrorism and state sponsorship of militants issue at SAARC Home Ministers' meet in Islamabad.

Why The Hoopla?

Home minister Singh's visit to Islamabad has gained so much of media space, both in print/online and television air-time because of the recent incidents of violence in the Kashmir valley. In his recent visit to Srinagar, Singh had held Pakistan responsible for the violence in Kashmir. He had said that the neighboring country must understand that instigating youth to pick up weapons is not correct.

"I want to tell my neighbor that instigating our youth to pick up weapons is not correct," Singh said at a press conference after a high-level meeting in Srinagar last week. Singh, in a direct reference to Pakistan had said that India will never need any third party’s involvement to address the situation in Kashmir. "We don’t need third party’s involvement to address the situation that prevails in Jammu & Kashmir,” he had said. However, keeping in mind his forthcoming visit to Islamabad, Singh added that Pakistan itself was a victim of terrorism. "...it must not encourage violence in Kashmir," Singh had said.

Security Issue

Hafiz Saeed, chief of Pakistani terror group Jamaat-ud-Dawa, has warned of a countrywide protest by his outfit if Singh arrives in Islamabad to attend the SAARC ministerial conference. This has put the Pakistan Government on a sticky wicket. India has categorically told Pakistan that it shall be held responsible for any security-related issues that arise when the Home Minister travels to Islamabad.

In a message to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Hafiz Saeed issued a statement in Lahore saying, "I want to ask the Pakistani government, will it add insult to injury to the wounds of Kashmiris by welcoming Rajnath Singh".

"It will be ironical as on the one hand the whole Pakistani nation is protesting against the atrocities in Kashmir and on the other hand the Pakistani rulers will be garlanding Rajnath Singh," the statement said.

Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack said "if Rajnath Singh comes to Islamabad on August 3, the JuD would hold countrywide protest". He added that protest demonstrations will be held and rallies taken out in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, Faisalabad, and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on August 3.

Hafiz Saeed, a terrorist with a $10 million US bounty on his head, warned the Pakistani government that Rajnath Singh’s presence in Islamabad may create "unrest" among Kashmiris as well as Pakistanis.

Meanwhile, chief of terror group Hizbul Mujahideen – Syed Salahuddin asked Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to immediately recall its ambassador from New Delhi and "suspend trade and diplomatic ties" with India following Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani’s killing.

Why This Meeting?

In November 2005 during the course of 13th SAARC Summit held in Dhaka the Heads of State had decided that the SAARC Interior/Home Ministers would meet annually preceded by a meeting of the Interior/Home Secretaries to strengthen cooperation in the area of counter-terrorism, which they agreed was a challenge to all states and a threat to humanity, and could not be justified on any grounds. The 7th meeting at Islamabad is part of the process.

Importance of Meeting

In November later in the year, Pakistan is scheduled to hold the 19th SAARC Summit at Islamabad and Murree, a popular hill station outside Islamabad which was also called as the summer capital of the Punjab Province of British India until 1864. It is located in the Pir Panjal Range, 60 km northeast of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. This summit will be attended by the head of states of the eight SAARC countries.