EAM Jaishankar set to arrive in Pakistan today to attend SCO meeting

Lahore  : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to land in Pakistan today to attend a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in the first high-level visit from India in years amid continuing strain in ties between the two neighbours.

Shortly after he arrives in Islamabad, the external affairs minister is likely to attend a banquet reception hosted by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to welcome the delegates from the SCO member nations, people familiar with the matter said.

Both sides have already ruled out any bilateral talks between Jaishankar and his Pakistan counterpart Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the SCO heads of government summit.

It will be for the first time in nearly nine years that India’s foreign minister will travel to Pakistan, even as the ties between the two neighbours remain frosty over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

It is learnt that Jaishankar will stay in Pakistan for less than 24 hours.

Pakistan is hosting the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting on October 15 and 16.

The last Indian Foreign Minister to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj. She had travelled to Islamabad in December 2015 to attend a conference on Afghanistan.

In August, Pakistan invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the SCO summit.

Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan assumes significance as it is seen as a significant decision on New Delhi’s part.

In his recent address at an event, Jaishankar said, “Like with 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.”

The decision to send the senior minister is seen as a display of India’s commitment to the SCO.

The ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after India’s warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot in Pakistan in February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack.

The relations further deteriorated after India announced the withdrawal of special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories on August 5, 2019.

Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with India after New Delhi abrogated Article 370.

India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such engagement.

Pakistan’s then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India in May 2023 to attend an in-person meeting of the foreign ministers of SCO nations in Goa.

It was the first visit of a Pakistani foreign minister to India in almost 12 years.