Pakistan Boycotts India Led SAARC Trade Officials Meeting On Coronavirus

Islamabad : Pakistan on Wednesday boycotted the meeting of trade officials of SAARC countries and said that such meetings can be effective only if they are headed by the secretariat of the group rather than India. The meeting was to discuss the impact of the coronavirus in the region and to discuss how the group could develop a common strategy to deal with the crisis.

Shortly after the meeting, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement, “Activities such as video conferences of today’s trade officials can only be effective if they are headed by the secretariat of the group. Since the SAARC Secretariat is not part of today’s video conference, Pakistan decided not to participate in it.”