Pakistan likely to be isolated at Heart of Asia meet

December 03, 2016 10:00

Amid heightened tension with Pakistan following yet another brazen terror attack on an army base, India is likely to step up efforts to corner it diplomatically and mobilize support for concrete action against state-sponsored terrorism at the two-day Heart of Asia conference beginning in Amritsar today.

Being held in the wake of the brazen Nagrota terror attack, the annual conference of the Heart of Asia Istanbul Process, a platform to assist Afghanistan in its transition, will extensively deliberate on threat from terror networks operating from Pakistani soil and may push for some concrete action to deal with it.

The conference will be attended by representatives from over 30 countries including China, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Iran. Pakistan Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz will represent Islamabad at the conference.

On Sunday, the main conference will be jointly inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani where both India and Afghanistan are likely to corner Pakistan on terror.

The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process was launched in 2011 and the participating countries include Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates.

The countries which support the initiative are Australia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Finland, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Britain and the US. Four countries Uzbekistan, Latvia, Bulgaria and Austria are attending the conference as guests.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Meet Baldev Kumar from Punjab, first outsider to contest J-K LS polls

The abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 paved the way for outsiders to contest polls in the Union Territory.

IPL PIX: Rahul, de Kock power LSG to easy win over CSK

Openers KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock hit fifties as LSG trounced CSK by eight wickets.

Phase 1 sees nearly 63% polling amid stray incidents of violence

"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC...

Manipur records 68% polling marred by violence, firing, booth capturing

At Thamnapokpi under Moirang constituency in Bishnupur district, armed men fired several rounds in the air near a polling booth prompting voters to flee, police said on Friday, adding additional security personnel were rushed to the spot...

Air India to soon have new crew management system

Air India will soon have a new crew management system that will help strengthen rostering rules and enable faster recovery from scheduled disruptions. In a message to the staff on Friday, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said that...