ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is focussing on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari prepares to visit India for the SCO event.
Pakistan and India have already ruled out any high expectations from the visit which is essentially SCO-related but the bilateral window is kept open for sideline meetings. The two sides have until now, not shown any interest at this window of opportunity to engage at the FM level. India will host the SCO Summit in New Delhi on July 3-4 that would see Russian President Vladimir Putin travelling to India for the first time since the Ukraine war. A senior Pakistani diplomat said that although Pakistan wanted good ties with all the countries including India, Islamabad also wanted a proper atmosphere for the talks. “We want talks but the dialogue must be result oriented. With the bloodshed ongoing in held Kashmir, India must realise the situation is not ripe for talks,” he told The Nation. Another diplomat said India needed to pave way for talks. “They are the ones who are creating the problems. If there is peace, we will go for talks,” he added.
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Foreign Minister Bilawal has dismissed speculation surrounding his upcoming visit to India saying it should not be interpreted as a sign of improved bilateral ties between the two neighbouring countries. The FM will be attending a meeting of the SCO in Goa, marking the first visit by a Pakistani Foreign Minister to India in almost a decade. Bhutto last week clarified that he had not requested a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He emphasized that the visit should be seen in the context of the SCO, which is an eight-member political and security bloc that includes Russia and China. He said that Pakistan was committed to the SCO charter, and that their participation in the meeting reflects Pakistan’s continued commitment to the SCO charter and process, as well as the importance that Pakistan places on the region in its foreign policy priorities. He also stressed that Pakistan cannot allow India to further isolate it.
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Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahrah Baloch said Pakistan’s participation in the meeting reflected Pakistan’s commitment to the SCO Charter and the importance that Pakistan accorded to the region in its foreign policy priorities. India currently holds the presidency of the SCO, which comprises China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Pakistan and India became permanent members of the Beijing-based SCO in 2017.