Modi to take a decision on Jaitley's Pak visit
posted on Aug 16, 2016 @ 5:20PM
After the recent visit of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Pakistan for the SAARC summit amidst the security threats, blackout of the media while he was addressing at the SAARC summit, the centre is thinking whether to send Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for the upcoming SAARC summit or not. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is unlikely to attend a regional summit in Islamabad next week, said government sources. India is unhappy with the way Islamabad treated union Home Minister Rajnath Singh when he visited the Pakistani capital for a SAARC conference earlier this month. A final decision will be made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and this will be followed by a formal announcement, the sources said.
Reports suggested economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das would represent India at the Saarc meet. Earlier, media reports from Pakistan claimed that the country had decided to give a "warm welcome" to Jaitley amid speculation that he was likely to visit Islamabad for the conference. Soon after news broke that Jaitley would skip the meet in Islamabad, defence minister Manohar Parrikar was quoted as saying that “going to Pakistan is the same as going to hell”. Addressing a party meet, Parrikar said Indian troops had “sent back” five terrorists on Monday. He added: “Pakistan mein jaana aur nark mein jaana eik hi hai.” He also said Pakistan was facing the consequences of its policy of encouraging terrorism.