Jaishankar Rules Out Bilateral Talks with Pakistan at SCO Meet
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar has categorically ruled out the possibility of holding any bilateral talks with Pakistan during his upcoming visit to Islamabad for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting.
Speaking at an event in New Delhi on Saturday, Jaishankar emphasized that his participation in the SCO event will strictly be for multilateral engagements and not for discussing India-Pakistan relations.
“It (visit) will be for a multilateral event. I’m not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations. I’m going there to be a good member of the SCO,” the minister stated.
This will be the first visit by an Indian External Affairs Minister to Pakistan since Sushma Swaraj attended the Heart of Asia conference in 2015. Despite sharing a platform at the SCO’s Heads of Government meeting in Islamabad later this month, no bilateral meetings are scheduled between the two nations.
No Progress on Bilateral Dialogue
India has maintained its stance of not engaging in bilateral discussions with Pakistan until Islamabad ends its support for cross-border terrorism. Jaishankar also pointed out that Pakistan’s stance on terrorism has led to the stagnation of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
“Terrorism is something which is unacceptable and despite a global view of it, if one of our neighbors continues to do it, there cannot be business as usual in SAARC. That’s why the SAARC meeting has not happened in recent years,” he stated. Jaishankar, however, noted that regional integration in the Indian subcontinent has progressed in other areas despite SAARC’s inactivity.
Focus on Multilateral Engagements
According to senior officials at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the visit to Islamabad will primarily focus on multilateral engagements within the SCO framework. They emphasized that there are no expectations of any significant progress in the India-Pakistan peace process during the meet.
The SCO meeting comes shortly after the announcement of results in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections, after which the Centre reiterated its commitment to restoring statehood to the region. Given this context, Jaishankar’s visit will be closely monitored, though it is unlikely to lead to any direct breakthroughs in India-Pakistan relations.
