Chief Minister Vijay Rupani Wednesday said no delegation from Pakistan would be attending the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit. Gujarat will host the ninth edition of the annual industry summit ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ from January 18 to 20 in Gandhinagar.
Earlier, a controversy had erupted when the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), while inviting several global trade bodies for the investors’ meet, also extended invitation to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce.
India and Pakistan’s diplomatic relations have been strained in recent times over the issue of terrorism. On Wednesday, Rupani said, “No delegation from Pakistan was coming for the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.”
“There were discussions about it, but it is not true,” he told reporters here, but did not elaborate further. Gujarat Chief Secretary J N Singh had last week said there was nothing wrong in inviting Pakistan’s trade body for the summit.
The GCCI had decided to invite global trade bodies during the Gujarat Vibrant Summit and the state government agreed to it. The Karachi Chamber of Commerce is also one of the global trade bodies invited by GCCI.
The Gujarat government has not sent any invitation, Singh said. The Pakistani trade body had been invited to participate in the ‘Global Conclave of International Chambers’, one of the events to be held at the summit.
GCCI office-bearers had claimed it was only a “general circular” meant for around 285 global trade bodies, and that the final invitation was to be sent only after scrutiny.
In 2013, a trade delegation from Pakistan had come to Gujarat to take part in the biennial summit. However, following tension on the border, the delegation left without attending the main event. Thereafter, no Pakistani delegation was invited for the investor meets held in 2015 and 2017.
The summit was conceptualised in 2003 by Prime Minister Modi when he was the state’s chief minister to promote investment in Gujarat. It focuses on establishing Gujarat as a preferred investment destination in India.
Over the years, the summit has evolved into a platform for brainstorming on agendas of global socio-economic development, in addition to becoming a platform for forging strategic public-private partnerships.
