Even as India is trying to move at a fast pace to jointly fight the coronavirus pandemic in the South Asian region, Pakistan is trying to undermine New Delhi’s efforts in this regard by making efforts to bring the coronavirus-related interactions under the formal South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC) umbrella by seeking to involve its secretariat. This attempt is to get free hand to block India's initiatives.
Red flagging this development, Government sources said here on Thursday the activities undertaken by the SSARC countries in the recent days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held video conference with heads of all the States of this association were under extraordinary circumstances to deal with challenge. These endeavours were moving in a result-oriented manner without being bound by any procedural formalities which could prove to be constraints.
Sources said Pakistan's efforts to bring COVID-19 related interactions under the formal SAARC umbrella was an attempt to get free hand to block all initiatives and proposals by India by using the SAARC charter provisions and rules of procedure including application of principle of consensus for the drafting of agenda, outcome document, concurrence of all member states for each and every thing every step of the way.
Sources said keeping control of the activities that emerged from Modi's video conference of March 15 has helped India move much faster and without any hindrances. India had described these activities as being stand-alone and outside the "SAARC calendar of approved activities", they said.
"We regard the present activities as events under extraordinary Covid-19 circumstances focussed only to jointly dealing with the challenge in the SAARC region in a result-oriented way, without being bound by any procedural formalities that could prove to be constraints," a source said. Pakistan on Wednesday did not take part in SAARC trade officials discussion saying such activities could only be effective if spearheaded by the SAARC Secretariat.