New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday criticised Pakistan for fuelling cross-border terrorism in South Asia, which he believes is the primary reason for the struggles faced by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

Jaishankar's criticism comes ahead of his visit to Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.

He also cited cross-border terrorism as the key obstacle to SAARC's progress, pointing to one member state's practice of cross-border terrorism at least against one more member.

While delivering the Sardar Patel Lecture on Governance organised by the IC Centre for Governance in New Delhi, Jaishanka said, "At the moment, SAARC is not moving forward, we haven't had a meeting of SAARC for a very simple reason - there is one member of SAARC who is practicing cross-border terrorism at least against one more member of SAARC, maybe more... Terrorism is something which is unacceptable and despite a global view of it, if one of our neighbours continues to do it - there cannot be business as usual in SAARC. That's the reason why the SAARC meeting has not happened in recent years - but it doesn't mean that the regional activities have stopped."

He added, "In fact, in the last 5-6 years, we have seen far more regional integration in the Indian subcontinent and we have seen since the participation of India. If you look today with Bangladesh, with Nepal, with Bhutan, with Myanmar, with Sri Lanka... you have roads being rebuilt... you have ferries, you have fertiliser supplies... So I would actually say that what is happening in the neighbourhood, it is happening because of the Neighbourhood First policy..."

Meanwhile, Jaishankar also expressed his concerns over the rising tensions in the Middle East and said, "Middle East is not opportunity. The Middle East is a cause of great concern and deep worry. The conflict is widening - what we saw as a terrorist attack, then the response, then we saw what happened in Gaza. Now you are seeing it in exchange in Lebanon, between Israel and Iran."

Highlighting the repercussions of the Middle East conflict, Jaishankar noted that escalating tensions have resulted in a significant surge in shipping and insurance rates, thereby affecting global trade. "The Houthis are firing on the Red Sea. This is actually costing us. It's not that somebody is neutral and you benefit. Shipping rates have gone up. Insurance rates have gone up. Exports and foreign trade have been affected. Oil prices have gone up."

He further said, "Conflicts can be opportunistically used, I don't deny that, but I think in a globalised world which is so tight, conflict anywhere actually creates problems everywhere and some supply of some kind will get affected by this. So I would say honestly today, whether it is the conflict in Ukraine or the conflict in the Middle East, these are big factors of instability, big factors of concern. I think the entire world, including us, we are worried about it."

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