After India said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not travel to Islamabad for the regional Saarc summit in November, Bangladesh has also decided to pull out of the upcoming meet.
Reports said Afghanistan and Bhutan have also decided the same; however, Pakistan Foreign Office has strongly denied the news.
The announcement comes amid growing tensions between Pakistan and India, the two nuclear-armed neighbours, following the attack on an Indian army base in held Kashmir.
The SAARC or South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit cannot take place even if one of the eight members withdraws.
Bangladesh has communicated its inability to attend the event saying, “The growing interference in the internal affairs of Bangladesh by one country has created an environment which is not conducive to the successful hosting of the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad in November 2016.”
Read more: India decided to pull out of the upcoming Saarc summit in Islamabad
Reports said Bangladesh foreign ministry officials have informed the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu about the decision.
Bangladesh Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam said they would not attend the summit “due to busy internal affairs”.
The current SAARC chair, Nepal, may announce the postponement of the summit anytime now as four of the eight member states are not joining the summit of the South Asian grouping.
