The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conference was being attended by Pakistan’s foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who arrived in Goa on Thursday. This was the first high-level visit from Pakistan to India since 2011. The SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) conference will be attended by Bhutto Zardari in India, but relations between India and Pakistan are still strained over a number of problems, including Islamabad’s continued support for transnational terrorism.
There is currently no plan for a bilateral meeting between Bhutto Zardari and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, according to people aware with the conclave arrangements, as there has been no request for such a meeting from the Pakistani side.
“I am delighted to travel to Goa and take the helm of the Pakistani mission at the SCO Foreign Ministers.
The Pakistani foreign minister stated before departing for Goa, “My decision to attend this meeting illustrates Pakistan’s strong commitment to the charter of the SCO.”
I look forward to productive meetings with my counterparts from friendly nations during my visit, which is solely focused on the SCO,” he stated.
This travel from Islamabad by the Pakistani foreign minister to India is the first of its kind since 2011. Later that year, India was visited by Pakistan’s then-foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar. Currently, Khar is the state department’s minister of foreign affairs.
Former Pakistani leader Nawaz Sharif travelled to India in May 2014 to witness Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration.
Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj travelled to Pakistan in December 2015, and days later, Modi made a quick trip there as well.
Days after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif volunteered to arrange bilateral discussions between Pakistan and India, the invitation for the Pakistani Foreign Minister to attend the SCO gathering was conveyed in January.
After three wars with India, Sharif claimed in an interview with the UAE-based Al Arabiya news channel that Pakistan had learned its lesson and now wanted to coexist peacefully with India, provided that “we are able to resolve our genuine problems.”
However, Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office later said negotiations are not possible without India revoking its 2019 actions on Kashmir.
India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such an engagement.
After India’s aeroplanes attacked a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training centre in Balakot, Pakistan, in response to the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019, relations between India and Pakistan became severely strained.
After India stated in August 2019 that Jammu and Kashmir would lose its special status and be divided into two union regions, ties between the two countries further deteriorated.
While asserting that his nation was determined to doing its lot to advance its shared principles of peace and stability in the region, Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif stated that his nation’s choice to attend the SCO foreign summit in India reflected its “commitment” to the SCO Charter and multilateralism.
We are dedicated to doing our part to promote the region’s shared principles of peace and stability. We are all in favour of win-win agreements built on connection, trade, and beneficial teamwork, the speaker continued.
