Modi to take final call on Indian finance minister's Islamabad visit

Finance Ministers of SAARC are to meet on August 25 and 26 in federal capital

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to take the final call on whether Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will visit Islamabad next week to attend a regional summit.

The Indian government is visibly perturbed after Home Minister Rajnath Singh was severely criticised back home by veteran politicians and former diplomats over his deviation from the SAARC agenda at a recent meeting of home ministers in Islamabad. Finance ministers of Saarc -- which has eight South Asian countries as members -- are to meet on the 25th and 26th in the federal capital, according to NDTV.



Finance ministers of Saarc -- which has eight South Asian countries as members -- are slated to meet on the 25th and 26th in the federal capital, according to NDTV.

The rivalry between Islamabad and New Delhi has hampered efforts to transform Saarc into a meaningful platform for integration in South Asia, which accounts for a fifth of the world’s population but less than a tenth of its economic output.

Both countries have fought two of their three wars since independence over Kashmir, which each rules in part but claims in full. The line of control dividing the Himalayan region still broadly runs along the front when the guns fell silent in 1948.

This article originally appeared on NDTV.