Islamabad: Pakistan on December 9 announced indefinite postponement of the South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation (SAARC) summit scheduled to be held in Islamabad next month, charging India with sabotaging the event and adopting devious methods to derail the SAARC process.

"The Indian government has been acting deviously all along regarding its participation in the 12th SAARC summit in Pakistan. The games that Indian government or governments played with SAARC reveal its lack of interest in the Association," Foreign Office spokesman Kamaran Niaz said announcing the postponement.

"Ever since the decision to hold the 12th SAARC summit in January 2003 in Islamabad, India has been looking for excuses to sabotage the event," he said.

Pakistan had originally proposed the summit to be held in April, 2003, but the dates were advanced to January at the instance of India as the Indian officials attending the SAARC Foreign Minister's conference in August in Kathmandu said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajapayee will not be able to attend it due to his pre-occupation with the national Budget, he claimed.

Kamaran said the government of Pakistan needed adequate time to make preparations for the summit.

"In view of the little time left to make proper preparations and in the face of continued Indian refusal to confirm its participation, the government of Pakistan is regrettably left with no alternative but to postpone the 12th SAARC summit," he said.

PTI