15 october 2024 : External affairs minister S Jaishankar is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on Tuesday, October 15, to attend a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in the first high-level visit from India in years amid continuing strain in relations between the two neighbours.
Pakistan’s main opposition party Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf called off its protest on Tuesday as the 23rd meeting of the Council of the Heads of Government (CHG) of the SCO begins in Islamabad under tight security. The two-day meeting will discuss ongoing cooperation in fields of economy, trade, environment and socio-cultural linkages and review the performance of the SCO.
Pakistan assumed the rotating chair of the SCO CHG, the second highest forum within the SCO, for 2023-24 at the previous meeting, held in Bishkek in October 2023.
Shortly after he arrives in Islamabad, S Jaishankar 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
Both sides have already ruled out any bilateral talks between S Jaishankar and his Pakistan counterpart Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the SCO heads of government summit.
First visit to Pakistan by India’s foreign minister in 9 years
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 CHG meeting on October 15 and 16.
10 points on SCO meet and India-Pakistan frosty ties
- 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 India abrogated Article 370.
- India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the responsibility 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.
Islamabad, Oct 15 (PTI)
The CHG meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Belarus Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, Kazakhstan Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Tajik Prime Minister Kohir Rasulzoda, Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov, Kyrgyzstan’s Chairman of Ministers Cabinet Zhaparov Akylbek, Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, and Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are participating.
The threat of unrest was avoided when the Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf last night agreed to call off its protest in the capital after the assurance by the government that a medical team would be allowed to meet its jailed leader 72-year-old Imran Khan.
It has announced a protest to force the government to allow a meeting with Khan in jail after authorities stopped all kinds of meetings with inmates in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi, including Khan, ahead of the SCO meeting.
However, the issue was resolved late Monday night when the PTI accepted assurance by the government that a doctor would be allowed to see Khan on Tuesday.
“After long consideration and negotiations that went back and forth…, we decided to call off the protest,” Khan’s international spokesman Zulfiqar Bukhari said in a WhatsApp voice message.
He also said that the PTI was also urged by its political allies and friendly embassies to postpone the protest.
He, however, defended the right to protest on the occasion of an international event which he said was an international norm as all over the world protests are held on such occasions.
Earlier, the government had warned to deal with any kind of protest with an iron hand.
Elaborate security measures have been taken and about 10,000 police personnel deployed who have the support of paramilitary rangers and regular army troops.
The government announced three-day official leave in the capital and neighbouring Rawalpindi to avoid unnecessary hassle during the conference.
Section 144 has also been imposed in the twin cities to outlaw all gatherings.
