New Delhi: Whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Pakistan to attend the SAARC summit later this year will be a “policy decision” a call on which will be taken at the “right time”, government sources said on Wednesday night.
“It is something on which we will take a call at the right time,” they said.
There has been an escalation in war of words between India and Pakistan over the ongoing unrest in Kashmir and on Wednesday India rejected Islamabad’s proposal to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks on the issue.
The 19th SAARC summit is scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November.
Asked whether Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will travel to Pakistan to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Finance Ministers’ meeting, the sources said a decision on it has “not been firmly made”.
On reports that the Prime Minister may not travel to Venezuela next month to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, the sources said it has not been decided who will represent India at the conclave.
At the same time, they added there was no change in India’s policy towards NAM. The last time an Indian Prime Minister stayed away from attending NAM was Chaudhary Charan Singh in 1979.
Asked about PM Modi’s comments on situation in Balochisthan, the sources said it was an expression of concern by the Prime Minister and did not come out of the blue.
They said the PM was troubled by the human rights violations and excesses done by Pakistani army in Balochistan.
Questions like with whom India will coordinate and what New Delhi was going to do in Balochistan are “premature and irrevalent”, the sources said.
About discussion with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi here last week on NSG issue, the sources said the leader of the Chinese delegation at the plenary meeting of the 48-nation grouping in Seoul in June will soon come to India.
They said all related issues will be discussed during his visit.
PTI