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Pakistan blames India for summit delay
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan says it has postponed indefinitely a summit of South Asian leaders it was scheduled to host because India has not yet said whether it will attend. The meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was to take place on January 11-13 next year. It is not clear how long it will be postponed, although Pakistan still expects to hold it in it's capital, Islamabad. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka make up SAARC, a regional grouping formed in 1985 to promote trade and economic cooperation. Announcing the decision Monday Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman Kamran Niaz told a news briefing that his government had no choice but to postpone the meeting. "In view of the little time left to make proper preparations and in the face of the continued Indian refusal to confirm its participation, the government of Pakistan is regrettably left with no alternative but to postpone the 12th SAARC summmit," he said. A gamut of regional issues were to be discussed at the session and there had been hopes that India and Pakistan would use the occasion as a basis for informal talks over Kashmir. Tensions between India and Pakistan over the disputed Himalayan territory have been heightened over the past year, sparking fears that the two nuclear armed rivals might go to war. India accuses Pakistan of backing Islamic militants carrying out violence in Kashmir, a charge Pakistan denies.
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