EAM Jaishankar takes aim at Pakistan as SCO Foreign Ministers Summit concludes

India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar took aim at Pakistan during a press briefing after the conclusion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa. This came after India made several pointed statements, seen to be aimed at Pakistan, calling for an end to terrorist activities and respecting the sovereignty of nations. These were an allusion to Pakistan’s chequered record on terrorism and programs like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which cuts through parts of Kashmir that India claims as its territory.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was also in attendance at the Goa Summit. This was the first visit by a Pakistani Foreign Minister to India in over a decade.

“As a Foreign Minister of an SCO Member state, Mr. Bhutto Zardari was treated accordingly. As a promoter, justifier and spokesperson of a terrorism industry, which is the mainstay of Pakistan, his (Bhutto’s) positions were called out and they were countered, including at the SCO meeting,” said Foreign Minister Jaishankar during a press briefing after the conclusion of the summit.

India’s top diplomat was harshly critical of Pakistan during his remarks. He also made clear that India’s invitation to Bhutto Zardari for the meeting should not be seen as part of a wider rapprochement between New Delhi and Islamabad.

“He (Bhutto) came here as a Foreign Minister of an SCO member state. Please do not see it as anything more than that. It was not meant as anything more than that,” Jaishankar said.

During the course of the summit, India’s Foreign Minister also met with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang. Tensions between New Delhi and Beijing on their disputed border continue and the ongoing border standoff, which is now entering its fourth year, featured in bilateral talks.

“During the meeting, the SCO Foreign Ministers assessed the status of decision that will be approved at the upcoming SCO meeting in July The meeting also gave an opportunity to dwell on the state of multilateral cooperation in SCO, to address regional and global issues of interest, talk about the reform and modernisation of the organisation, and assess the progress of admitting Iran and Belarus into the SCO as new member states,” said EAM Jaishankar.

EAM Jaishankar met with the Foreign Ministers of six member countries of the SCO, Including Russia and China. However, he did not hold a separate bilateral discussion with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister