A South Asian summit at which the prime ministers of India and Pakistan were set to meet has been postponed after India's Manmohan Singh pulled out, Pakistan said on Wednesday. Pakistan, current chairman of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), questioned Singh's decision not to attend the February 6-7 meeting in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.
India said Singh had withdrawn because of regional turmoil. The Press Trust of India news agency said the situation in neighbouring Nepal, where King Gyanendra on Tuesday sacked the government and seized power, was a factor.
"The summit has been cancelled and fresh dates will be worked out after consultation," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid told AFP.
"It is beyond our understanding why India refused at the last minute. We are asking them" for their reasons, he added.
The Saarc summit was originally due to be held early last month but was delayed after the Asian tsunami disaster.
The widely anticipated meeting between Shaukat Aziz and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh could have given a boost to the year-old peace process between the two countries, which has stalled in recent months.
Singh had also been due to meet the now-sacked Nepalese premier Sher Bahadur Deuba on the sidelines of the 13th annual summit. King Gyanendra had said earlier on Wednesday that he would travel to Dhaka instead.
In New Delhi an Indian foreign ministry statement said the decision was taken "against the background of recent developments in our neighbourhood which has caused us grave concern."
India said the security situation in Dhaka had worsened recently after a grenade attack that killed five people including a former Bangladeshi minister and sparked a general strike.
The statement said India would work to make sure the summit was held in the near future and that it had requested fresh dates.
"It is only in an environment free from political turmoil and violence that a summit would yield the desired outcome," it said.
But Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said the repeated postponements could make the regional grouping a laughing stock.
"We are disappointed because the delegates were working around the clock to prepare the agenda for the meeting," he told AFP.
"The summit was already postponed once because of the tsunami disaster. This time the dates have been worked out after careful consultations and with the clear consent of the heads of state or governments attending the conference."
The summit would have addressed key issues including poverty reduction, trade and energy, Khan said.
"Frequent postponements could tarnish the image of the Saarc. It was a highly anticipated event, not only in India and Pakistan but all around the world," he added.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz spoke to his Bangladeshi counterpart Khaleda Zia to express disappointment, officials said.
"Now that the meeting has been postponed, we earnestly hope that the new dates will be worked out and the process of regional co-operation can continue undeterred," the Prime Minister was quoted as saying.
Bangladesh said separately that India's decision was unacceptable.
"We are shocked and dismayed at the unwarranted and unexpected decision of the government of India not to attend the Saarc summit after all preparations had been completed," said Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shamsher M Chowdhury in Dhaka. "The reason given for this decision as far as it relates to 'the security situation in Dhaka' is unacceptable and rejected outright," Chowdhury said.