Jaishankar To Attend SCO Summit In Pakistan, First Visit By An Indian Foreign Minister In Almost A Decade

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will visit Pakistan later this month to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) ‘Heads of Government’ summit.

This would be Jaishankar’s first visit to Pakistan as foreign minister of India. Jaishankar’s trip also marks the first official visit by an Indian Foreign Minister to Islamabad in nine years.

Sushma Swaraj was the last foreign minister to visit Pakistan when she led the Indian delegation to the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process in Islamabad on December 8-9, 2015.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “EAM Jaishankar will lead a delegation to Pakistan for the SCO summit which will be held in Islamabad on 15th and 16th October…”

Relations between India and Pakistan soured after the 2016 Uri terror attack. India has always maintained no relationship with Pakistan is possible until it stops funding and sponsoring terrorism.

In August 2016, Rajnath Singh, then Home Minister, visited Islamabad for a meeting of SAARC Ministers of Interior/Home. In 2018, then Union Ministers Harpreet Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri crossed the border to attend foundation stone laying ceremony of “Kartarpur Corridor”.

When asked about bilateral meeting with Pakistan, the MEA said, “The EAM is leading a delegation what will be his plans like closer to the meeting we will share.”

The MEA has slammed Pakistan for welcoming controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. “We are not surprised that a fugitive from Indian justice has received a high-level welcome in Pakistan. It is disappointing and condemnable, but as I said not surprising,” Jaiswal said.

MEA for the first time accepted today that India has raised this issue with Malaysian PM during his visit

Earlier, Pakistan had officially extended an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the SCO meeting in Islamabad this October, according to a statement from the foreign office spokesperson.

Pakistan, as the current holder of the rotating chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG), will host the two-day SCO Heads of Government Meeting in October.