ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali on Friday refused to attend a global conference scheduled to be held in India from Oct 21-23.
The CJP was invited by his Indian counterpart to attend the conference on a national initiative towards strengthening arbitration and enforcement in India. The Indian High Commissioner, Gautam Bambawale had personally extended the invitation to Justice Jamali. No official statement or reason behind the refusal was given.
The refusal to participate in the conference comes as tensions between the South Asian rivals mounted on Thursday after a small arms fire exchange between Pakistani and Indian troops along the LoC, leading to the death of two Pakistani soldiers.
An Indian soldier was captured by the Pakistan Army, while Indian soldiers have also been killed in the episode of firing across the Line of Control, it emerged Thursday.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have been simmering since an Indian crackdown on dissent in India-held Kashmir following the killing by Indian forces of Burhan Wani, a young separatist leader, in July.
Last week, India initiated a diplomatic drive to isolate Pakistan after blaming it for the Sept 18 attack on the Uri army camp in India-held Kashmir which killed 18 soldiers ─ a claim which Pakistan has rejected.
Later, India pulled out of the Pakistan-hosted 19th Saarc summit scheduled to be held in November. Following suit, several members of Saarc, including Bangladesh and Bhutan, pulled out of the summit leading to its postponement.
