NEW DELHI – Pakistan will not attend a global tobacco control conference in India next week, a minister said on Friday, confirming the frayed relations between the neighbours.
India is hosting the biennial conference of the only global treaty aimed at deterring tobacco use, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Delegates from about 180 nations are expected to attend the conference.
“It’s a very important meeting on tobacco, but our visit doesn’t appear feasible due to ongoing tensions,” Saira Afzal Tarar, Pakistan’s junior minister of health services regulation and coordination said in a statement.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after India blamed Pakistan for involvement in Uri attack that left 18 Indian soldiers dead.
Pakistan refuted Indian claims but the situation ultimately turned hostile as India claimed of a surgical strike inside Pakistan but to its dismay Pakistan retaliated and bounced back with major blow.
Recently, India alleged a Pakistani High Commission staffer of involvement in espionage and ordered him to leave the country.
However, Pakistan reportedly unveiled a network of 8 Indian undercover agents allegedly involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan.
