SCO summit: S Jaishankar in Pakistan today; Imran Khan’s party calls off protest
External affairs minister S Jaishankar is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on Tuesday, October 15, to attend a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in the first high-level visit from India in years amid continuing strain in relations between the two neighbours.
Pakistan’s main opposition party Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf called off its protest on Tuesday as the 23rd meeting of the Council of the Heads of Government (CHG) of the SCO begins in Islamabad under tight security. The two-day meeting will discuss ongoing cooperation in fields of economy, trade, environment and socio-cultural linkages and review the performance of the SCO.
Pakistan assumed the rotating chair of the SCO CHG, the second highest forum within the SCO, for 2023-24 at the previous meeting, held in Bishkek in October 2023.
Shortly after he arrives in Islamabad, S Jaishankar is likely to attend a banquet reception hosted by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to welcome the delegates from the SCO member nations, people familiar with the matter told news agency PTI.
Both sides have already ruled out any bilateral talks between S Jaishankar and his Pakistan counterpart Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the SCO heads of government summit.
First visit to Pakistan by India’s foreign minister in 9 years
It will be for the first time in nearly nine years that India’s foreign minister will travel to Pakistan, even as the ties between the two neighbours remain frosty over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
It is learnt that Jaishankar will stay in Pakistan for less than 24 hours.
Pakistan is hosting the SCO CHG meeting on October 15 and 16.
Protests in Pakistan
The threat of unrest was avoided when the Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf last night agreed to call off its protest in Islamabad after the assurance by the government that a medical team would be allowed to meet its jailed leader 72-year-old Imran Khan.
It has announced a protest to force the government to allow a meeting with Imran Khan in jail after authorities stopped all kinds of meetings with inmates in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi, including Khan, ahead of the SCO summit.
10 points on SCO meet and India-Pakistan frosty ties
The last Indian foreign minister to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj. She had travelled to Islamabad in December 2015 to attend a conference on Afghanistan.
In August, Pakistan invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the SCO summit.
Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan assumes significance as it is seen as a significant decision on New Delhi’s part.
In his recent address at an event, Jaishankar said, “Like with any neighbour, India would certainly like to have good relations with Pakistan. But that cannot happen by overlooking cross-border terrorism and indulging in wishful thinking.”
The decision to send the senior minister is seen as a display of India’s commitment to the SCO.
The ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after India’s warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot in Pakistan in February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack.
The relations further deteriorated after India announced the withdrawal of special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories on August 5, 2019.
Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with India after India abrogated Article 370.
India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the responsibility is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such engagement.
Pakistan’s then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India in May 2023 to attend an in-person meeting of the foreign ministers of SCO nations in Goa. It was the first visit of a Pakistani foreign minister to India in almost 12 years.