DEA Secretary to represent India at SAARC meet in Islamabad

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Economic Affairs SecretaryShaktikanta Das will represent India in the two-day SAARCFinance Ministers meeting beginning tomorrow in Islamabad. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was scheduled to attendthe conference, sources said, has cancelled the participationdue to "political reasons". The conference is scheduled on August 25-26 in Islamabad. Das will be attending the meeting in place of the FinanceMinister, government sources said. Earlier this month, barbs were exchanged between HomeMinister Rajnath Singh and Pakistan Interior Minister ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan, who only had a tense and uneasy handshakeduring the 7th SAARC Home Ministers Meeting in Islamabad. Pakistani authorities did not allow entry of Indianmediapersons, including those from PTI and Doordarshan, insidethe venue of Home Ministers Meeting. Singh had informed Rajya Sabha that after the meeting wasover, Pakistan’s Home Minister, who was the host, invited theparticipants for lunch but left in a car soon thereafter. "Keeping in mind the country’s prestige, I did what Ishould have done. I have no complaints. I had not gone therefor lunch," he had said. That apart, in his Independence Day address to the nation,Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that India will not bowbefore terrorism, and also brought up Pakistani atrocities onpeople of Baluchistan and PoK, saying that they have thankedhim for doing so. Though Modi did not make any reference to Kashmir Valley,which is witnessing violence after the killing of HizbulCommander Burhan Wani, he accused Pakistan of glorifyingterrorists and celebrating killings in India. Pakistan’s Finance Ministry in a recent statement had saidthe country would play the role of a "good host" and try tokeep the overall ambiance positive. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation. Itsmember states include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. PTI DP NKD CSABK