Blitz Bureau
EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that India will not engage in discussions regarding its relations with Pakistan at the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit to be held in Islamabad on October 15-16.
The visit holds significance as this will be the first visit by an Indian External Affairs Minister to Pakistan in nine years, with the last being Sushma Swaraj’s trip in 2015. Speaking at the Sardar Patel lecture on governance organised by the IC Centre for Governance in New Delhi, Jaishankar emphasised that his participation would be focused on the multilateral nature of the event.
“Normally the Prime Minister goes to the high-level meeting, the heads of state, that’s in line with the tradition. It so happens that the meeting is taking place in Pakistan, because, like us, they are a relatively recent member,” Jaishankar added.
He pointed out that SAARC is not progressing because meetings have not been held in recent years. This is due to one member engaging in cross-border terrorism against at least one other member, he said and stressed that this situation makes it difficult for SAARC to function normally. He remarked that terrorism is something that is unacceptable, noting that if one of the neighbours continues to do it, there cannot be business as usual in SAARC.
Jaishankar highlighted Sardar Patel’s historical stance against involving the United Nations in disputes, particularly concerning Jammu and Kashmir, arguing that such actions could allow external powers to manipulate the situation.
He noted that Patel believed it was more effective to address issues directly with Pakistan rather than through international frameworks. He highlighted that, like any other neighbour, India would like to have good relations with Pakistan but not by overlooking cross-border terrorism.
The relationship between India and Pakistan is at its lowest ebb after Islamabad downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
