Foreign Minister S Jaishankar. File. | Photo Credit: PTI
As the government considers the decision to send Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar to Pakistan next month to attend the ‘Heads of Government’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the former High Commissioner told The Hindu it is important that India participates in the event, separating the failure of bilateral relations from the “value” of the SCO group consisting of 10 Eurasian countries, including Russia and China.
According to sources, the government will send its representative for the event on October 15-16 in Islamabad in place of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after Dr. Jaishankar returns from the United States next week. Neither India nor Pakistan send a Prime Minister to the Head of Government event, because they attend at the level of ‘Head of State’ instead of a Deputy Minister or Vice President instead.
Also read | Era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan ends: Jaishankar
At least two official sources confirmed it The Hindu that the Foreign Minister will be New Delhi’s choice to attend the summit virtually, or in person, while a senior official admitted, on condition of anonymity, that the visit of Dr. Jaishankar to Pakistan, which will be his first. visit in nearly a decade, “can not rule out”. On Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs shared details of the accreditation of Indian journalists for the event in Islamabad in one of the signals that the government expects to send high-ranking officials to the SCO event.
“India will only repay the favor done by Pakistan by sending (then) Foreign Minister (Bilawal) Bhutto to Goa when India hosts the SCO of Foreign Ministers in Goa in 2023,” said India’s last High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria. “This will be a good opportunity for India to fulfill its plurilateral commitments while leaving the bilateral ball in Pakistan’s court,” Mr. Bisaria, who was expelled in August 2019 after the government’s move to amend Article 370 and reorganize Jammu and Kashmir, added. He also pointed to Dr. Jaishankar’s new statement that India will not be “passive”, and will “react” to both “positive or negative” moves from Pakistan.
During the SCO meeting in Goa, Mr Bhutto and Dr Jaishankar exchanged greetings but did not hold a bilateral meeting, and the visit ended with both sides holding acrimonious press conferences criticizing each other.
Talk to The Hinduthree other former High Commissioners for Pakistan agreed that India should participate in the SCO meeting in Islamabad, but Dr.
“We should not allow the India-Pakistan issue to spoil our other relations. The SCO has a certain value for India and we should not allow bilateral differences to exceed that value, as has happened with SAARC,” said the former High Commissioner of Pakistan (2013-2016) TCA Raghavan, who served in Islamabad the last time a Foreign Minister, the late Sushma Swaraj, visited in December 2015, but added that “bilateral openness” cannot be ruled out when the Foreign Minister visits other countries.
“The SCO is very important for India,” said Gautam Bambawale, who preceded Mr. Bisaria as Pakistan’s High Commissioner (2016-2017). “However, the government should make it very clear that the visit is only for the SCO and there will be no bilateral meetings with Pakistan,” he said, adding that the Foreign Minister should attend “as usual” for India.
“If the Foreign Minister goes, it should be in line with past practice,” said former High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal (2009-2013).
If Dr. Jaishankar visiting Pakistan for the SCO meeting, will be in stark contrast to the Modi government’s policy on SAARC meetings so far. No Indian Minister has attended a multilateral meeting in Pakistan since Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited Islamabad for the SAARC Home Ministers’ meeting in August 2016, and the last time a Foreign Minister visited was Sushma Swaraj’s visit in December 2015 before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Christmas. visited Lahore in the same month. After the terror attacks on Pathankot airbase and Uri Army camp in 2016, India canceled the SAARC Summit in Pakistan and refused to attend subsequent meetings in Pakistan. The only exception made by the government in the past few years was the inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor, where it sent two Union Ministers.
In New York, on Tuesday, Dr. Jaishankar defended India’s involvement with the SCO. “The SCO is more focused on fighting radicalism and terrorism. That’s where it started. And today it may have developed into something more for us,” said Dr. Jaishankar, speaking at the Asian Public Policy Institute during his US visit (September 21-October 2). “So to have different options, a combination of partners working on different agendas at the same time is how we do it,” he said, when asked about possible contradictions in Quad member India and the BRICS and SCO groups.
Published – 25 September 2024 22:25 IST
