New York: The annual SAARC foreign ministers meet, on thesidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), saw high voltage dramaafter Pakistan's Foreign Minister SM Qureshi held up the meeting, refusing toattend the meet until External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's statement wasover. Referring to the incident, unheard of at an international level, Indianofficials called it a drama by Pakistan. The government sources said that it isup to Pakistan to create a conducive environment.

The meet on Thursday, nonetheless, started without Qureshi.The official Twitter account of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), the rulingparty, said that the boycott was over the Kashmir matter.

Qureshi came inside the room only when the EAM Jaishankarhad left and cited India's decision to remove the special status for Jammu andKashmir as the reason behind his action. He claimed to have the support of SAARCnations to host the SAARC head of nation summit in Islamabad.

Following this, Jaishankar tweeted that the elimination ofterrorism in all its forms is a precondition not only for fruitful cooperationbut also for the very survival of our region itself. Speaking of terrorism as a"deliberate" obstacles being faced in the region, the EAM asserted,"Ours is really not just a story of missed opportunities but also ofdeliberate obstacles. Terrorism is among them." Taking to Twitter, Jaishankarsaid, "In our view, elimination of terrorism in all its forms is aprecondition not only for fruitful cooperation but also for the very survivalof our region itself."

After Jaishankar's speech, Pakistan's Foreign Minister said,"The good development is, SAARC summit that was to happen in Islamabad in2016, we are ready to host it. I invited SAARC ministers to Islamabad for thesummit. The next summit will happen in Islamabad. No one objected to it."But when asked if India has agreed too and if PM Modi will travel to Islamabad,the Pakistani FM had no reply.

According to sources, Pakistani FM suggested it can putforward the dates of next summit to which Nepal, the chair of the grouping,said this is an informal meet and not a forum to decide the next summit. TheIndian press also tried asking questions on terrorism and Pakistan going toUNSC to get "basic expense" to Qureshi but got no response fromQureshi, who was keen to talk on Kashmir.

In 2018, SAARC Foreign ministers saw a lot of attention asIndia's then external affairs minister late Sushma Swaraj left the room earlyleading to an angry Pakistani FM Qureshi coming out and making unwarrantedremarks to the standing press. India's focus has been BIMSTEC since thecancellation of SAARC summit in 2016 in the aftermath of the Uri terror attack.India along with Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives hadboycotted the summit in Islamabad.

India has been keen on SAARC and even launched the SouthAsian satellite in 2017 and hosts the South Asian University. New Delhi isproviding 100 per cent capital cost towards the construction of South AsianUniversity.