Rama Krishna Sangem
Finally, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari arrived in Goa on May 4, Thursday, for the ministerial level meeting of SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation). Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and China Foreign Minister Qin Gang too came to India to attend the meeting chaired by India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar. The meeting will be held for two days, on May 4 and 5.
Though India said it is not appropriate to focus on one particular member – Pakistan – at the SCO, all eyes were on Bilawal Bhutto as his visit was in doubt till the last minute. Pakistan wanted Dr Jaishankar to have a one-on-one dialogue with Bhutto, on the sidelines of SCO ministerial meeting. But, India told Islamabad that it might not be possible as SCO was a multilateral forum.
Still, what we hear is that Jaishankar is likely to meet Qin Gang and Lavrov exclusively at the meeting, though the same privilege is denied to Bilawal Bhutto. It is a known fact that the relations between India and Pakistan are not cordial for the last decade and more. The last Pakistan foreign minister who came to India was Heena Rabbani Khar in 2011. Then Pak PM Nawaz Sherif came to India in May 2014, for the oath taking of PM Modi.
Frosty Ties
India’s relations with Pakistan turned bad since Mumbai terror attack in November 2008. But the worst level witnessed after Pulwama terror attack in 2018. After that the situation remained frosty. Successive Pak PMs – Imran Khan and Shebaz Sherif, now, too haven’t adopted friendly relations with India, especially after the Modi government abolished Article 370 in August 2019.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s current visit may not be a big development in terms of bilateral ties, but certainly it is an indication that Pakistan is keen on improving friendship with India. This meeting will also pave way for PM Shebaz Sherif’s possible visit to India for SCO summit meeting in New Delhi in mid-July. We need to see, what will be the reaction of Bilawal before leaving for home on May 5, Friday.
