BackSCO meet: ‘Look forward to constructive…’ Pak foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto's message as he leaves for India
SCO Meet: Bhutto Zardari, who would be the first foreign minister to visit India since 2011, is leading the Pakistan delegation to the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Beijing-based Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
PremiumPakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that he hopes for constructive discussion with counterparts from friendly countries as the minister has left for India to attend the SCO meet. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is scheduled to take place in Goa on May 4 and 5.
Bhutto Zardari, who would be the first foreign minister to visit India since 2011, is leading the Pakistan delegation to the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Beijing-based Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
The Foreign Office (FO) has said that the invitation to the Pakistan Foreign Minister to attend the SCO-CFM was extended by India's Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar, as the current chair of the SCO. Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson for FO, said that Bilawal had departed for Goa from Karachi.
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"FM @BBhuttoZardari departs from #Karachi to participate in the #SCO Council of Foreign Ministers," the spokesperson tweeted with a picture of his departure.
“On my way to Goa, India. Will be leading the Pakistan delegation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization CFM. My decision to attend this meeting illustrates Pakistan’s strong commitment to the charter of the SCO," Bhutto Zardari tweeted before his departure.
Upon Pakistan’s request, Bhutto Zardari was granted special permission by the Indian civil aviation authority to use the Indian airspace, Duniya TV reported. The visit is highly symbolic as it is the first by any Pakistani Foreign Minister since Hina Rabbani Khar travelled to India in July 2011 for peace talks.
The FO also said that in addition to deliberating upon important regional and international issues and signing some of the institutional documents, the CFM would finalise the agenda and decisions to be adopted by the 17th SCO Council of Heads of State Meeting scheduled to take place in New Delhi on July 3 and 4.
Besides Pakistan, SCO member states include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and India.
It is said that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is unlikely to sit for bilateral talks with Bhtutto-Zardari, people familiar with the development said. They added that there is no plan yet for a structured bilateral meeting but they did not rule out a pull-aside between the two leaders.
Earlier, Defence expert Dhruv Katoch on Wednesday said that the visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister to India, for the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting, won't be productive as "he lacks the depth of wisdom" but he may make some statements to earn some brownie points in Pakistan.
However, in an exclusive interview with ANI, defence expert Dhruv Katoch on Wednesday said, "Very frankly, I don't think this visit is going to be very productive. He doesn't really have that maturity and depth of wisdom to be a statesman and to sort of conduct himself with a level of maturity."
Bhutto-Zardari will lead the Pakistani delegation to the meeting of SCO Foreign Ministers (CFM), according to Pakistan's Foreign Ministry. Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov are also likely to participate in the meeting.
Katoch further said that this is an SCO visit, so, as per the protocol only matters pertaining to SCO will be discussed. "It will be inappropriate for Mr Bhutto to raise bilateral issues. I don't see this happening during the course of the conference. However, after the conference is over, I am quite certain that Indian journalists will interview Mr Bhutto and I think in that interview whatever Mr Bhutto has to speak -- he will actually speak there, that will be designed for both the Indian and Pakistani audience. I am certain, during that interaction with the media, he is going to raise bilateral issues, especially Kashmir," he said.
The two-day SCO foreign ministerial meeting will begin with a gala reception at a luxury beach resort in Goa on Thursday while the main deliberations will take place on Friday
Since becoming a member in 2017, Pakistan has been actively and constructively contributing to all SCO activities to realise its multi-sectoral aims and objectives in a mutually beneficial manner, the FO said. 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 announced the withdrawal of special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories in 2019.
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