SAARC drops statement

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, OCT. 24. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation has abandoned an attempt to put out a joint statement on the September 11 attacks in the U.S. after failing to sew together the conflicting viewpoints of India and Pakistan on terrorism, officials here said.

The statement was to have been put out earlier this month but was given up following New Delhi's insistence that included in it should be its stand that the fight against global terror must also target terrorism in Kashmir.

``Both India and Pakistan had their own perceptions of the issue. It was difficult to reflect these positions in a common language, so last week, we gave it up,'' an official told The Hindu.

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