NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Saturday ruled out bilateral talks with Pakistan during his upcoming visit to the country for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Speaking at the Sardar Patel lecture on Governance, Jaishankar said that while India desires good relations with Pakistan, it cannot be achieved by disregarding the issue of cross-border terrorism and engaging in unrealistic expectations.
“Like 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. As the Sardar demonstrated, realism must be the foundation for policy. India’s relationship with China is similarly an issue on which the Sardar Patel’s instincts are on record, and they differ considerably from that of Prime Minister Nehru,” Jaishankar said.
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Jaishankar also highlighted the differing views of Sardar Patel and former Prime Minister Nehru regarding India’s relationship with China, citing their famous correspondence in 1950.
In a press conference following the event, Jaishankar clarified that his upcoming visit to Pakistan for the SCO meeting will be a multilateral event, and he will not be discussing India-Pakistan relations.
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“I mean, I’m not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations. I’m going there to be a good member of the SCO. But, you know, since I’m a courteous and civil person, I will behave myself, accordingly,” he added.
Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on October 15 and 16.
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The SCO, established in June 2001, is a Eurasian permanent intergovernmental international organisation consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, and China. Known as the “alliance of the East,” the SCO is the largest regional organisation in the world, covering three-fifths of the Eurasian continent and nearly half of the human population, representing around 42 per cent of the world’s population and 20 percent of the global GDP.