India has rejected Nepal’s proposal to create the “Saarc Police”, a regional body to counter terrorism, narcotics and human trafficking, cyber crimes and other criminal activities. With the situation currently not favourable for holding the stalled 19th Saarc Summit, some observers believe the proposal was also affected by the rivalry between India and Pakistan. Nepal had proposed the merging of two Saarc desks focused on narcotics and terrorism stationed in Sri Lanka, and upgrading them to create the “Saarc Police”. The Saarc process has been stalled since India pulled out of the 19th Saarc Summit that was to be held in Islamabad in 2016 after cross-border terror attacks that were blamed on Pakistan-based groups. Meetings of senior officials of Saarc states have been held since then but India has maintained that the environment is not conducive to holding the summit, officials said.

Source: Hindustan Times April 12, 2018 15:56 UTC