‘Going there to be a good member of SCO’: EAM Jaishankar rules out any talks on India-Pakistan relations in SCO Summit

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on October 5 clarified that there will be no discussion on India-Pakistan relations during the upcoming SCO Summit. 

Jaishankar will be visiting Pakistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) conclave this month. The EAM’s visit will be first such hi-profile visit to the neighbouring country in 9 years. 

“It (visit) will be for a multilateral event. I’m not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations. I’m going there to be a good member of the SCO,” he said at the sidelines of an event in the national capital. “But, you know, since I'm a courteous and civil person, I will behave myself accordingly,” he added. 

The last Indian external affairs minister to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj. She had travelled to Islamabad in December 2015 to attend a conference on Afghanistan. 

Pakistan is hosting the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting on October 15 and 16. 

Jaishankar also took a dig at Pakistan, holding it responsible for the derailment of the SAARC initiative. 

“At the moment SAARC is not moving forward, we haven’t had a meeting of SAARC for a very simple reason - there is one member of SAARC who is practising cross-border terrorism at least against one more member of SAARC, maybe more... That’s the reason why the SAARC meeting has not happened in recent years - but it doesn't mean that the regional activities have stopped. In fact, in the last 5-6 years, we have seen far more regional integration in the Indian subcontinent,” he added. 

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. 

Meanwhile, former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has invited Jaishankar to join and address its protests.  

Speaking at a show on Geo News, PTI leader and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Advisor to CM Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said world leaders are coming to Pakistan and “they will be happy to see our democracy and praise their strength”.  

Saif, “We (PTI) would like to invite Jaishankar sahab to join our protest and address our people and see how Pakistan has a strong democracy where every person has a right to protest.”