India pulls out of 12th session of

governing council of APCTT

National

1 DAY AGO BY WEB DESK

India has pulled out of Twelfth Session of the Governing Council of the Asia-Pacific
Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT) at the eleventh hour amid escalating
tensions between the two nuclear states.

Ministry of Science and Technology officials told media that initially, New Delhi had
confirmed its participation in the three-day session of the Governing Council of the
APCTT, which kicked off in Islamabad on Monday.

Just hours before the meeting was due to start, the Indian delegation cancelled their trip
saying that their head delegate had contracted food poisoning.

India had earlier in November boycotted the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) that was to be held in Islamabad.

It is believed that New Delhis decision is part of its efforts to isolate Pakistan
internationally by staying away from such multilateral engagements hosted by
Islamabad.
 An international conference is also part of three-day GC Session to discuss the role of
public policies in facilitating innovation and effective partnerships for sustainable
development.

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Rana Tanveer Hussain inaugurated the GC
and the International Conference on Innovation Strategies for Sustainable Development.

Addressing the inaugural session of the conference, Rana Tanveer Hussain said the
government gave priority to the implementation of 2030 agenda for sustainable
development goals.

The Governing Council comprises fourteen members States including China, Fiji, India,
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Korea, Samoa, Sri Lanka,
Thailand and Vietnam.

APCTT is a specialised regional Institute of the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and Pacific (UN-ESCAP), based in New Delhi.

Its key role is to assist member states through strengthening their capabilities to develop
and manage their National Innovation Systems focusing on strengthening technology
driven sustainable development. The governing council comprises 14 members including
Bangladesh, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan,
the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

The conference will provide a platform and opportunity to all these member countries to
share and exchange best international practices, policies and plans in order to
encourage innovative entrepreneurship as well as technology transfer, said the official.

There will be thematic discussions where political and business leaders introduce
strategic policy issues for sustainable development. The exchange of policy experience
will also contribute to building capacity for participants from the member states.

SAARC summit postponed after India,

allies pull out
National

SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 BY WEB DESK

 PMs advisor on foreign affairs says Pakistan to host SAARC summit whenever it
is held

Bangladesh blames Pakistan of interfering in its affairs

Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Wednesday confirmed that a
three-day key regional summit had been postponed indefinitely, shortly after India and
three other countries pulled out of the conference.

Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan have pulled out of the SAARC summit which was
scheduled to be held in Pakistan from November 9 to 11, a day after India announced to
boycott the summit over an attack on its military base in the Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Whenever the SAARC conference is held, it will be hosted by Pakistan, Aziz said.
Islamabad said that Pakistan would not budge from its principled stance on the Kashmir
dispute.

Without naming Pakistan, Indias foreign ministry said increasing cross-border terrorist
attacks in the region and growing interference in the internal affairs of member states by
one country had created an environment that was not conducive for a meeting.
Hours later, Bangladesh said it was also pulling out. Afghanistan and Bhutan both
close India allies have since followed suit, according to a SAARC official who asked
not to be named.

A junior Bangladeshi foreign minister, Shahriar Alam, confirmed that Bangladesh would
not attend the SAARC summit. Indian media cited Dhaka as blaming the growing
interference in the internal affairs of Bangladesh by one country, and said Bhutan and
Afghanistan were also planning to withdraw.

The country was not named, but Bangladesh has in the past accused Pakistan of
interference for protesting the execution of Islamist leaders found guilty of war crimes.
Pakistan has been interfering in our internal affairs for some time, a senior Bangladesh
foreign ministry official said on the condition of anonymity. Thats why we have pulled
out of the SAARC summit.

South Asian analyst Ashok Malik said the pull-outs would have little practical impact on
Pakistan but could push it closer to rival regional power China. It basically scores a
symbolic and a political victory. As for Pakistan, this will push it even closer to China,
said Delhi-based Observer Research Foundations regional studies initiative head Malik.

Responding to Indias move, Pakistan said it remained committed to peace and regional
cooperation and accused New Delhi of perpetrating terrorism on its soil.

As for the excuse used by India, the world knows that it is India that has been
perpetrating and financing terrorism in Pakistan, tweeted foreign ministry spokesman
Nafees Zakariya late Tuesday, citing the capture of an Indian intelligence officer in
Baluchistan earlier this year.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of interference in Balochistan province.

Under pressure to act after the Kashmir raid, Modi warned Pakistan in a major speech
on Saturday that India would push to make it a pariah state. Pakistan denies any
involvement in the attack, the worst of its kind in over a decade.

Bangladesh pulls out of Saarc summit in

Islamabad amid India-Pakistan row
Bangladesh on Wednesday pulled out of a key regional summit to be held in Pakistan, a
day after India said it was boycotting the event over a deadly cross-border attack on a
military base.

Bhutan and Afghanistan were also reported to be withdrawing from the November
summit after India announced late Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not
take part, citing increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in the region.

Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have deteriorated sharply since a

deadly attack on a military base in disputed Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on militants
from across the border.

Pakistan denies any involvement in the attack, in which 18 Indian soldiers died.

But Modi, under pressure to act after the worst such attack in more than a decade, has
threatened to make it a pariah state.

On Wednesday junior Bangladesh foreign minister Shahriar Alam confirmed by text

message that Bangladesh would not attend the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) summit.

Indian media cited Dhaka as blaming the growing interference in the internal affairs of
Bangladesh by one country, and said Bhutan and Afghanistan were also planning to
withdraw.

The country was not named, but Bangladesh has in the past accused Pakistan of
interference for protesting the execution of Islamist leaders found guilty of war crimes.

South Asia analyst Ashok Malik said the pull-outs would have little practical impact on
Pakistan but could push it closer to rival regional power China.

It basically scores a symbolic and a political victory. As for Pakistan, this will push it
even closer to China, said Malik, head of the Delhi-based Observer Research
Foundations regional studies initiative.

Responding to Indias move, Pakistan said it remained committed to peace and regional
cooperation and accused New Delhi of perpetrating terrorism on its soil.

As for the excuse used by India, the world knows that it is India that has been
perpetrating and financing terrorism in Pakistan, tweeted foreign ministry spokesman
Nafees Zakariya late Tuesday, citing the capture of an Indian intelligence officer in
Baluchistan earlier this year.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of interference in the southwestern province of

Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan and is afflicted by Islamist militancy and
a separatist insurgency.

angladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan join

India in withdrawing from SAARC
summit in Islamabad
Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan on Wednesday pulled out of a regional summit of
South Asian leaders in Pakistan, a day after India said it would boycott the event over a
deadly attack on a military base.

India blames Pakistan for the assault in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir earlier
this month that has heightened fears of a new conflict between the nuclear-armed
neighbours.

Tensions rose further on Tuesday as Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled the
trip, and Islamabad warned it would treat it as an act of war if India revoked a water
treaty.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit cannot take
place even if only one of the eight members withdraws.

Bangladesh on Wednesday said it has communicated its inability to attend the summit to
current SAARC chair, Nepal. The Bangladeshi High Commissioner to India, Syed
Muazzem, said current circumstances were not conducive to producing concrete and
satisfactory results.

In separate statements, Kabul and Thimpu also announced their decision to withdraw.

Pakistans foreign ministry called Indias move unfortunate and said it remained
committed to peace and regional cooperation. In a statement, it accused India of
meddling in Pakistans internal matters.
Indias decision to cancel the trip is the latest attempt by India to try to pressure Pakistan
diplomatically. India has said it will respond to the Kashmir attack but experts say it is
short of military options because of the risk of escalation.

The signal cannot be sent that we are rewarding Pakistani bad behaviour by allowing
our prime minister to go to their country even for a multilateral meeting, said an India
Congress Party leader, Shashi Tharoor, standing by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP)s decision.

India on Monday began a campaign to isolate Pakistan at the United Nations, and Modi
told officials India should exploit more of the water from three rivers that flow into its
neighbour, potentially cutting water levels downstream.

Its part of a larger policy of isolation of Pakistan, said Indias former foreign secretary,
Lalit Man Singh. India has done that internationally by raising the issue of Pakistan and
its links with terrorism at the U.N., at the G20, at the BRICS Summit.

India says Pakistani militants sneaked across the de facto border that separates the
countries and killed 18 soldiers on September 18, the biggest loss of life for Indian
security forces in the region for 14 years.

Pakistan rejects the accusation and says India should conduct a proper investigation
before it apportions blame.

Indian and Pakistani mistrust has long undermined South Asian regional cooperation
and is widely blamed for the poor performance of SAARC, which successive Indian
leaders hoped would help South Asia become a viable economic counterweight to
China.

Divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, the nuclear flashpoint of Kashmir lies at
the heart of the countries rivalry. India also faces an insurgency against its rule in the
portion it controls, its only Muslim-majority state.