We remained actively engaged in SCO format: India ahead of Jaishankar's Islamabad visit

Islamabad: India remains actively engaged in various mechanisms of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), New Delhi said on Tuesday, hours before External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar lands in Pakistan to attend a conclave of the influential regional grouping.

It will be the first visit by an Indian foreign minister in nearly a decade that comes amid continuing chill in India-Pakistan relations.

Pakistan is hosting the two-day SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) summit meeting on October 15 and 16.

“The SCO CHG meeting is held annually and focuses on the trade and economic agenda of the Organisation," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

"External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India at the meeting. India remains actively engaged in the SCO format, including various mechanisms and initiatives within the SCO framework," it said in a brief statement in New Delhi.

Shortly after he arrives in Islamabad, Jaishankar is likely to attend a banquet reception to be hosted by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to welcome the delegates from the SCO member nations, people familiar with the matter said.

Both India and Pakistan have already ruled out any bilateral talks between Jaishankar and his Pakistan counterpart Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the SCO heads of the government summit.

However, they are set to exchange pleasantries.

It will be for the first time in nearly nine years India's foreign minister is traveling to Pakistan even as the ties between the two neighbours remained frosty over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

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.

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 on August 5, 2019 announced the withdrawal of special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories.

Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with India after New Delhi abrogated Article 370.

India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus 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.