By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Ministry of External Affairs announced on Friday that the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Pakistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Heads of Government meet to be held on October 15-16.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing ”The External Affairs Minister will lead our delegation at the SCO summit to be held in Islamabad on October-15-16,”.
The decision came after months of speculation on whether India will participate in the summit, given the current state of relationship with Pakistan. India held the chair of the SCO in 2023 and Pakistan’s then Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto visited Goa for a meeting of the SCO foreign ministers.
Pakistan holds the rotating chairmanship of the SCO. Islamabad had in August invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the meeting being hosted by it.
The SCO comprises India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Lately, it has emerged as an influential economic and security bloc.
Dr Jaishankar is expected to have bilateral meetings with his counterparts from other nations, a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart is highly unlikely.
Spokesperson criticized Pakistan for hosting preacher Zakir Naik. “We are not surprised that a fugitive from Indian justice has received a high-level welcome in Pakistan. It is disappointing and condemnable, but as I said not surprising,” he said.
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