India Foreign Minister S Jaishankar
Lahore: Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar is scheduled to reach Pakistan on Tuesday to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference. This will be the first high-level visit from India to Pakistan amid the ongoing tension in relations between the two neighboring countries for the last several years. Officials said that immediately after reaching Islamabad, Foreign Minister Jaishankar will attend the welcome banquet hosted by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to welcome the SCO member countries. Both sides have ruled out any bilateral talks between Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the SCO Heads of Government Summit.
Indian Foreign Minister visits Pakistan after 9 years
This is the first time after almost nine years that the Foreign Minister of India will visit Pakistan, while relations between the two neighbors are still frozen over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism from Pakistan. There is information that Jaishankar will stay in Pakistan for less than 24 hours. Pakistan is hosting the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting which will be held on October 15 and 16. The last External Affairs Minister of India to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj. He traveled to Islamabad in December 2015 to attend a conference on Afghanistan. Pakistan had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August to participate in the SCO summit.
Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan is important
Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan is considered important because it is being seen as an important decision from India’s side. In his recent address at an event, Jaishankar had said, “Like any neighboring country, India would definitely like better relations with Pakistan.” But this cannot be done by ignoring cross-border terrorism and wishing to do so (to end cross-border terrorism). The decision to send a senior minister to this conference reflects India’s commitment to the SCO.
India’s stand is clear
India has been maintaining that it wants normal neighborly relations with Pakistan while also emphasizing that the onus is on the neighboring country to create an environment free from terror and hostility for such talks. Pakistan’s then Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had visited India in May 2023 to attend the meeting of foreign ministers of SCO countries in Goa. This was the first visit of a Pakistani Foreign Minister to India after about 12 years. (Language)
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