Pakistan skips UN Summit on combating desertification hosted by India
New Delhi: Amid bilateral tension with New Delhi, Pakistan has skipped the United Nations (UN) Summit on combating desertification and restoration of land which is hosted by India, media reports said.
The event began on Monday.
Despite the invitation by the global body, Pakistan's two designated seats in the summit were found empty, suggesting their skip.
On the other hand, Indian Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar was seen addressing the representatives from 195 countries.
"If their seats are vacant here today in the plenary, it means they have decided to skip the meet. We cannot say much beyond this about their absence at this juncture," an official has been quoted saying by The Times of India.
India is hosting the summit amid tension with Pakistan which has accused its neighbour of treating people of disputed Jammu and Kashmir wrongly after withdrawing Articles 370 and 35A which used to provide special status to the valley.
Though Pakistan snapped several bilateral ties over New Delhi's move, India maintained Kashmir is its internal matter, a stand widely acknowledged by several other nations.
In the summit, the representatives of the participating nations will discuss how to make the world 'land degradation neutral' by 2030.
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