S. Jaishankar, set to lead a delegation to Islamabad next week, emphasized that his visit is focused solely on attending a multilateral event.
Pakistan has ruled out the possibility of bilateral talks with India during the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, where External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be present. Jaishankar, who will lead an Indian delegation to Islamabad next week, emphasized that his visit is focused on a multilateral event, not bilateral relations.
This visit holds importance as it will be the first time an Indian External Affairs Minister has travelled to Pakistan in nine years, the last being Sushma Swaraj’s visit in 2015.
When asked about Jaishankar’s visit, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch referred to Jaishankar’s statement from October 5, reiterating that the visit is intended for the multilateral event and not for talks on Pakistan-India relations.
Last week, Jaishankar confirmed that discussions regarding India-Pakistan issues would not take place during his visit to Islamabad on October 15 and 16. He stated, I am scheduled to go to Pakistan in the middle of this month, and that is for a meeting of the SCO Heads of Government… I am not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations. I am going there to be a good member of the SCO, but you know, since I am a courteous and civil person, I will behave myself.
The relationship between India and Pakistan has significantly deteriorated since Islamabad downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. Tensions were already high following the Indian Air Force’s strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, in February 2019, which was a response to the Pulwama terror attack that resulted in the deaths of over 40 Indian soldiers.
