Why has SAARC Foreign Ministers meeting been called off?

SAARC Foreign Ministers meeting that was scheduled to be held in New York on September 25, 2021 has been cancelled after Pakistan demanded the participation of the Taliban regime. SAARC Chair Nepal sent a letter to SAARC member countries, officially informing them that the meeting stands cancelled. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal Government wrote in the letter that, "due to lack of concurrence from all member states, the informal meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers proposed to be held in-person on 25 September 2021 on the sidelines of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York will not take place." 

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Foreign Ministers meet stands cancelled due to the lack of concurrence from all Member States as of today: SAARC TO ANI pic.twitter.com/MmrK0dzehO

— ANI (@ANI) September 21, 2021

Why has SAARC meeting been called off?

As per reports, Pakistan did not want the participation of Afghan envoy from the previous Ashraf Ghani regime and instead demanded the SAARC member states to allow the Taliban regime in Afghanistan to send a representative for the SAARC meeting.

If the meeting was held, Ghulam M. Isaczai, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations could have attended it but Pakistan refused to allow it. 

It is reported that majority of SAARC members had agreed to keep an empty chair for Afghanistan during the meeting but Pakistan did not agree. Pakistan demanded the participation of a Taliban representative, which was shot down by the remaining SAARC member countries including India and chair Nepal.

The Taliban regime has not yet been recognised by governments across the world. In fact, many of the top Taliban cabinet ministers are blacklisted by the United Nations.