SCO Summit, Dinner with Shahbaz Sharif: India’s Foreign Minister reaching PAK after 9 years, know the program

S Jaishankar Going to Pakistan: India’s Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar is scheduled to reach Pakistan on Tuesday (October 15, 2024) to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference. This will be the first high-level visit from India to Pakistan amid the ongoing tension in relations between the two neighboring countries for the last several years.

According to officials, soon after reaching Islamabad, Foreign Minister Jaishankar will attend the welcome banquet hosted by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to welcome the SCO member countries. Both sides have denied any bilateral talks between Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the SCO Heads of Government Summit.

Jaishankar will stay for less than 24 hours

This is the first time after almost nine years that the Foreign Minister of India will visit Pakistan, while relations between the two neighboring countries are still frozen over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism from Pakistan. There is information that Dr. Jaishankar will stay in Pakistan for less than 24 hours. Pakistan is hosting the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting which will be held on October 15 and 16.

Last time Sushma Swaraj went to Pakistan

The last External Affairs Minister of India to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj. He traveled to Islamabad in December 2015 to attend a conference on Afghanistan. Pakistan to attend SCO summit in August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Was invited.

India wants better relations with Pakistan

Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan is considered important because it is being seen as an important decision from India’s side. In a recent address at the event, Jaishankar had said, “Like any neighboring country, India would certainly like to have better relations with Pakistan but this cannot be achieved by ignoring cross-border terrorism and wishing to do so (to end cross-border terrorism).” “Maybe.” The decision to send a senior minister to this conference shows India’s commitment towards SCO.

When did the situation worsen?

• There was tremendous tension in relations between India and Pakistan after Indian fighter planes bombed the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot, Pakistan in response to the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019.
• Relations further deteriorated after India’s announcement on August 5, 2019, of withdrawing special status from Jammu and Kashmir and dividing the state into two union territories.
• After the abrogation of Article 370 by India, Pakistan had limited diplomatic relations with India.
• India has been saying that it wants normal neighborly relations with Pakistan, while it has also stressed that the onus is on the neighboring country to create an environment free from terror and hostility for such talks.
• Pakistan’s then Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had visited India in May 2023 to attend the meeting of foreign ministers of SCO countries in Goa.
• This was the first visit of a Pakistani Foreign Minister to India after about 12 years.

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