The eighth annual BRICS summit took place in India’s Goa on October 15 – 16, and was attended by leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The leaders of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) were also invited to participate in several meetings of the summit. Media reported that the absence of Pakistan at the international event could be an attempt to isolate this country.
Sinha refuted the media reports, saying that the decision to invite the BIMSTEC states to the BRICS summit was made in April, long before the recent escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan.
He added that New Delhi had no plans to isolate Islamabad in April, but made a decision on invitation of its regional partners after analyzing the agenda of international events with participation of both India and Pakistan. The Indian side decided to give the chance to participate in the summit to other regional states.
The recent escalation of violence across the India-Pakistan border came after 19 Indian soldiers died as a result of the September 18 attack by armed militants on a base outside of Srinagar, the capital of India-administered Kashmir.
In the wake of the attack, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh called for isolation of Pakistan from the international community as a state, which is supporting terrorist groups and avoiding direct allegations of Pakistani involvement in the attack. Islamabad claimed to be not implicated in the attack.
The BIMSTEC is an international association, comprising of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
