External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has announced his upcoming visit to Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting on October 15-16. In a statement made during the Sardar Patel Lecture in New Delhi, Jaishankar made it clear that his participation is solely for the multilateral event, stressing that it is not an opportunity for bilateral discussions with Pakistan. “I am not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations,” Jaishankar affirmed.
The SCO Summit, hosted in Islamabad this year, is part of India and Pakistan’s shared responsibilities as relatively new members of the organization. Typically, these meetings are attended by the Prime Minister, but Jaishankar will represent India due to specific circumstances surrounding this summit. He emphasized India’s commitment to multilateralism while underlining the need to be prepared for various potential scenarios during the visit.
This visit marks the first by an Indian External Affairs Minister to Pakistan in nearly a decade, with the last visit by Sushma Swaraj in 2015. While Jaishankar reiterated India’s aspiration for better relations with Pakistan, he maintained that progress is impossible amid persistent cross-border terrorism. “We cannot overlook the issue of cross-border terrorism,” he noted, emphasizing that terrorism cannot be normalized as a tool of statecraft.
Jaishankar also expressed frustration over the stagnation of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), blaming the lack of progress on one member’s support for terrorism. Regarding India-China relations, Jaishankar highlighted that both nations are “at crossroads” and urged for the restoration of peace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Lastly, Jaishankar voiced concerns over rising global conflicts, particularly in West Asia and Ukraine, warning of their broader implications for global trade, oil prices, and shipping costs, all of which impact India and the world.
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