SAARC meet: PoK minister present, Indian diplomat walks out
(Sourced from PTI)
An official of the Indian High Commission in Pakistan staged a walkout of a SAARC meeting over the presence of a minister from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) at the event. Diplomat Shubham Singh, left the meeting to register India's protest over the presence of PoK minister Chaudhary Muhammad Saeed at the SAARC Chambers of Commerce and Industry meeting on SAARC Charter Day in Islamabad yesterday.
India considers Kashmir as its integral part and doesn't recognize any minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). In 2016, India had pulled out of the 19th SAARC summit that was to be held in Islamabad after the deadly terrorist attack in Uri. The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to attend. No SAARC meeting has happened ever since.
India called off the foreign minister-level talks with Pakistan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in September after the brutal killing of policemen in J&K and the release of a postage-stamp by Pakistan glorifying Kashmiri militant commander Burhan Wani.
