India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is set to visit Pakistan in mid-October to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting.
Though Jaishankar has himself said that he will not discuss bilateral issues with his Pakistani counterpart during his visit, it has already garnered significant attention across the globe.
“The visit will be for a multilateral event… I’m going there to be a good member of the SCO,” said Jaishankar. “But, you know, since I’m a courteous and civil person, I will behave myself accordingly.”
The nuclear-armed neighbours have strained relations ever since the partition in 1947, mainly because of their contested claims over Kashmir. It has only worsened in recent years.
While some speculate that this visit could break the ice and create an environment for both countries to initiate bilateral talks in the coming days, many see it as a faint possibility.
Experts said the visit was unlikely to change the current state of bilateral relations, suggesting India was only eager to maintain its role in the SCO framework.
“If the prime minister himself had visited Pakistan, it would have conveyed a different message,” an expert told the BBC. “However, the foreign minister's visit demonstrates India's commitment to fulfilling its responsibilities in multilateral forums like the SCO.”
The visit also comes at a time when the supporters of the jailed leader Imran Khan have intensified protests in Pakistan demanding his immediate release.
The cadres of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Khan’s party, have said they would march to the capital from across the country.
Though the protesters have claimed they would carry out a peaceful protest, the authorities have sealed the capital and blocked the communication services.
Reuters, citing Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, reported on Saturday, October 5, that over 80 police personnel were injured in a clash near Islamabad.
Mobile phone services remained suspended in Islamabad and Rawalpindi for a third day in a row on Sunday, reported Financial Express . Earlier, the administration had blocked the roads in Islamabad, in an attempt to bar the movement of protesters, by using containers, according to local media reports .
Imran Khan became Pakistan’s prime minister in 2018, but was removed from office through the vote of no confidence in 2022. He remains in prison since his arrest in August last year. Many claim Khan was brought down after his relation with the powerful military establishment turned sour.
The last visit by an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan occurred in 2015 when Sushma Swaraj participated in a security conference in Islamabad.
Shortly after, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to Lahore to meet then-Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Though the two countries have not held the ministerial-level talks since December 2015, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Jaishankar's Pakistani counterpart, attended the meeting of SCO foreign ministers in India in May last year. It was the first visit by a senior Pakistani official since 2011.
Following the Pulwama attack and the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, India and Pakistan cut off most ties, including trade and travel. Both countries had also recalled their High Commissioners.
The bitter relationship between the two countries has also put a question mark on the future of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Its 19th summit which was supposed to be in Islamabad in 2016, could not be held after India refused to participate. India has accused Pakistan of practising cross-border terrorism for years.
Though there has not been a SAARC summit since 2014, both nations became members of the SCO in 2017.
The SCO is an organisation comprising 10 countries, such as India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, founded by Russia and China to strengthen relationships with Central Asian nations.
