India’s External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, is scheduled to visit Pakistan on October 15-16 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) “Heads of Government” (HoG) meeting in Islamabad, marking a significant diplomatic engagement between the two nations.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed this during its weekly press briefing, highlighting that Jaishankar will represent India at the in-person meeting hosted by Pakistan, which currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government. The meeting will bring together representatives from the member states, including China, Russia, and Central Asian nations.
Jaishankar’s visit follows Pakistan’s formal invitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August for the summit. However, in recent years, India has been represented by senior ministers at such SCO meetings. Jaishankar also participated in the 2022 SCO HoG meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
In a related diplomatic development, Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu will visit India from October 7 to October 10 for his first official bilateral trip, as confirmed by MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. Muizzu will visit Mumbai and Bengaluru as part of his itinerary.
The SCO, founded in 2001, is a major Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance. Its members include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, and most recently, Iran. Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia are observers.
This diplomatic engagement between India and Pakistan comes after a long hiatus in high-level meetings. The last invitation extended to India was for the 2016 SAARC summit, which was ultimately canceled after India boycotted it, causing a prolonged standstill in SAARC’s activities. Earlier this year, in May, Pakistan’s then Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attended the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa.
Jaishankar’s participation in the upcoming meeting may signify a potential warming of ties between the two nations under the multilateral framework of the SCO.
