ISLAMABAD, Dec 9 Kyodo (EDS: ADDS...

ISLAMABAD, Dec 9 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDS NEPALESE COMMENT)

The summit of leaders of seven southern Asian nations scheduled for Islamabad nearest month has been postponed, a Pakistani official said Monday.

The toward the south Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Last month Pakistan said it would not accept any conditions in hosting the 12th SAARC summit, a statement that came amid reports India was linking its summit participation to progres forward a proposed South Asia delivered Trade Agreement.

Long-tense relations between India and Pakistan have hampered the growth of the regional grouping.

Ties between the pair rivals, which have thrice gone to war, have soured calm further since an attack by dint of Islamic militants on the Indian parliament in December last year.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Kamran Niaz, in announcing the postponement Monday, said that while Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives had accepted the Jan. 11-13 dates for the summit, Bhutan and India had not confirmed their attendance.

''Since self-same little time was left for participation, the restraint of Pakistan had no alternate on the other hand to postpone the summit talk It will set new dates after consulting the member states,'' Niaz said.

unless in New Delhi, India accused Pakistan of sabotaging the economic agenda of the SAARC summit and called the decision to procrastinate the regional meeting ''a matter of Islamabad's choice.''

While maintaining India has always supported SAARC, a Foreign Ministry spokesman told reporters at a briefing, ''It was precisely for this reason that we had refer toed that substantive progress should take place in succession various trade and economic issues being discussed. In fact, a strange situation has taken place when each meaningful proposal for economic cooperation was systematically sabotaged from Pakistan. Now that Pakistan has announced postponement of the summit, then it is a choice they have made.''

The spokesman denied there was a difference onward dates, ''but on making meaningful progres in succession the SAARC agenda, because of obduracy of Pakistan.''

This is, however, the first time India has cited progres in succession an economic agenda as a prerequisite for attending the summit.

In Islamabad, Pakistan placed the blame in succession India for the postponement

''India has been looking for excuses to sabotage the event'' a Foreign Office official said later.

The official said the summit was originally planned for April 2003 then brought forward to January in succession a proposal by the Indian external affairs minister at a meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers in Kathmandu.

In Kathmandu, Nepal, which is in the SAARC chair, give vent toed hope postponement of the elucidation South Asian summit would be temporary.

''I just heard the summit has been postpon for a certain quantity of reasons. I possibility of good it is only temporary,'' Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand said.

The Nepalese premier said SAARC still retains out much hope for the greater convenient of the people of southerly Asia.

SAARC was established in 1985 to aid peace, stability and economic cooperation in the region, which plays armed force to the largest number of poor in the world.

Nepal landlorded the 11th summit of the regional grouping in January this year.

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