Pak Minister Bilawal Bhutto To Visit India For SCO Summit, Seeks Meeting With Jaishankar

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will lead the Pakistani delegation to the meeting in Goa, the ministry said.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto to attend SCO meeting in India in May

Source : Getty Images

New Delhi: Pakistan will attend the foreign ministers’ meeting of member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in India on May 4-5, Pakistan's foreign ministry confirmed on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will lead the Pakistani delegation to the meeting in Goa, the ministry said.

He has also requested a bilateral meeting with EAM S Jaishanker on the sidelines of SCO meet, sources told ABP Live.

"FM Bilawal Bhutto will lead 🇵🇰delegation to SCO-CFM meeting being held on 4-5 May 2023 in Goa, India. FM’s participation in Meeting reflects 🇵🇰’s continued commitment to SCO Charter & processes & the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities, " Pakistan Ministry tweeted on Thursday.

FM @BBhuttoZardari will lead 🇵🇰delegation to SCO-CFM meeting being held on 4-5 May 2023 in Goa,India. FM’s participation in Meeting reflects 🇵🇰’s continued commitment to SCO Charter & processes & the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities.

— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) April 20, 2023

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahrah Baloch said at a weekly media briefing, “Our participation in the meeting reflects Pakistan’s commitment to the SCO Charter and processes and the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities.”

She said the Pakistan foreign minister would be attending the meeting as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had invited him to attend the SCO meet.

It would be the highest-level visit to India by any Pakistani leader in recent years and a possible opportunity to break the ice between the two nations.

The ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after India’s warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot in February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack.

The relations further deteriorated after India announced the withdrawal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special powers and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into Union territories in August 2019. The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

India currently holds the presidency of the SCO, which comprises China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

India and Pakistan became permanent members of the Beijing-based SCO in 2017.