External affairs minister S Jaishankar will travel to Pakistan to attend a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in mid-October, the government announced on Friday. The last Indian external affairs minister to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj when she travelled to Islamabad in December 2015 to attend a conference on Afghanistan.
CNN-News18 has accessed exclusive details of the visit with Pakistan hosting the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting on October 15 and 16.
Top government sources said that Jaishankar’s visit is important and will be similar to when Pakistan’s then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari came to Goa for an SCO conclave in 2023.
“No bilateral talks are on the cards right now but future possibilities can’t be ruled out,” said a source. “Finishing terrorism is the only way both countries can walk and talk. There will be no talks on Kashmir in case any talks happen.”
The decision to send Jaishankar amid strained ties with Pakistan is seen as a display of India’s commitment to the SCO which has been playing a key role in boosting regional security cooperation.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, is an influential economic and security bloc that has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.
The SCO Council of Heads of Government conclave is the second-highest platform in the grouping.
(With agency inputs)
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