First Indian Foreign Minister; Shri Jaishankar Yadav Visits Pakistan Amid SCO Conclave

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting in Pakistan scheduled for today and tomorrow

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting in Pakistan scheduled for today and tomorrow, marking the first high-level Indian visit to Pak in nearly nine years. Jaishankar’s participation highlights the significance of India’s engagement within the SCO framework, even amid the ongoing tensions between India and Pak over Kashmir and cross-border terrorism. His visit follows a previous trip by Paki Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to India for an SCO meeting in May 2023. Despite his presence at the summit, there are no scheduled bilateral talks between Jaishankar and his Paki counterpart, Ishaq Dar. The SCO summit will focus on evaluating the organization’s performance and discussing critical areas of cooperation, including trade, economic partnerships, environmental concerns, and cultural exchanges.

The leaders will approve the SCO’s budget and make strategic decisions to strengthen ties among member nations. Meanwhile, Jaishankar is expected to attend a reception hosted by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the delegates of the SCO countries. Jaishankar’s brief stay in Pak reflects the importance of multilateral engagement through the SCO platform while highlighting the limited bilateral engagement between the neighboring countries due to strained relations. India has maintained that normal relations with Pak can only be restored when Islamabad takes concrete steps to combat terrorism and ceases hostile activities. The last significant strain in ties occurred after India’s airstrikes in Balakot in 2019 and the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status later that year. These events led Pakistan to downgrade diplomatic relations with India.