NEW DELHI: Pakistan on Monday ruled out the possibility of bilateral talks with India on the sidelines of the upcoming SCO summit, following India’s refusal earlier. Last Friday, India confirmed that foreign minister S Jaishankar would lead a delegation to Pakistan for the summit in Islamabad.
Responding to a question on Jaishankar’s visit and India-Pakistan relations, the spokesperson said that Pakistan had “officially received notification” about the visit and is prepared to welcome all participating members.Further on the question of bilateral talks, the spokesperson cited Jaishnakar’s refusal and assured to toe the same line.
“Regarding your question about bilateral meetings, I would like you to refer to the remarks made by the Indian minister for external affairs on 5th of October, in which he maintained that his visit was meant for a multilateral event and not for discussing Pakistan-India relations. These remarks are self-explanatory,” she said.
The last time an Indian external affairs minister visited Pakistan was when Sushma Swaraj in December 2015 travelled for a forum on the Afghanistan issue. However, Jaishankar’s upcoming visit is looked at as a significant move by New Delhi, given the strained bilateral relations between the two countries.
Tensions escalated after India carried out airstrikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist camp in Balakot in February 2019, following the Pulwama terror attack. Relations worsened further after India revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and reorganised the state into two union territories in August 2019, leading Pakistan to downgrade diplomatic ties.
India has consistently stated its desire for normal relations with Pakistan, which New Delhi has said will depend on Islamabad creating an environment free of terrorism and hostility.
In May 2023, Pakistan’s then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India for an SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa, marking the first such visit by a Pakistani foreign minister in nearly 12 years.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, however, confirmed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will chair the upcoming Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting of the SCO.
“We expect high-level participation from SCO members; the observer state of Mongolia; Turkmenistan as a special guest; and representatives of the international organisations, including Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and European Economic Community (EEC),” she said.
The spokesperson stated that the CHG meeting will focus on discussions regarding cooperation in areas such as the economy, trade, environment, and socio-cultural connections, while also reviewing the SCO’s overall performance.