India has formally conveyed to Pakistan that its Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will not attend the eighth finance ministers’ meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) in Islamabad later this week.
In the absence of Jaitley, Secretary of Economic Affairs Shaktikanta Das would lead the Indian delegation at the two-day event starting on Thursday, Dawn reported on Wednesday.
The Indian government’s decision follows weeks of speculation about the finance minister’s participation in the meeting of the regional bloc.
The decision reflects aggravating tension between the two neighbours over the situation in Kashmir, particularly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Pakistani authorities of suppressing rights of people of Balochistan, Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK)