Saarc interior ministers moot kicks off in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: The meeting of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) interior ministers kicked off in Islamabad on Wednesday with regional affairs, terrorism, prevention of drugs and human trafficking on its agenda.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was scheduled to open the two-day Saarc interior ministers meeting at a local five-star hotel which is expected to be attended by interior ministers from all Saarc states except for Bangladesh. Dhaka, however, is being represented by senior diplomats and officials.

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh is also attending the conference. He, however, will not hold a one-on-one meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

"There is no such proposal (for a bilateral meeting)," a spokesman for the Indian foreign ministry, Vikas Swarup, had said while confirming Singh's visit to Islamabad a few days ago.

The meeting of interior ministers comes as protests continue in Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IoK) amid killings of over 50 innocent Kashmiri youth at the hands of Indian forces.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan responded to the statement by New Delhi saying that he too is not 'anxious' to hold a meeting with his Indian counterpart.

The Saarc group includes Pakistan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The platform aims to boost ties and cooperation between member states, yet the Pak-India tension and especially the neighbouring arch-rival's traditional stubbornness on the Kashmir issue is deemed by many as an impediment to it.