Pakistan says S. Jaishankar’s comments are self-explanatory regarding bilateral talks with India

Pakistan has dismissed the possibility of bilateral talks with India during the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which will be attended by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. Jaishankar, who is set to lead a delegation to Islamabad next week, echoed this sentiment, stating that his visit is intended for a multilateral event.

This visit is especially significant because it is the first time an Indian External Affairs Minister has traveled to Pakistan in nine years, since the visit of Sushma Swaraj in 2015.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, when questioned about Jaishankar’s visit, stated, “I would direct you to the comments made by the Minister for External Affairs on October 5, in which he claimed was not to address relations between Pakistan and India, but rather that his visit was for a multilateral gathering. These comments are quite clear.

Last week, Jaishankar explicitly stated that discussions on India-Pakistan issues would not be part of his agenda during his visit to Islamabad on October 15 and 16.

Speaking to a gathering, Jaishankar stated, “I am set to travel to Pakistan in the middle of this month for a meeting of the SCO Heads of Government… My purpose there is not to discuss India-Pakistan relations. I intend to fulfill my role as a responsible member of the SCO, but as a courteous and respectful individual, I will conduct myself appropriately.”

The relationship between India and Pakistan is currently at a low point after Islamabad downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi following the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.

These ties had already been strained after India’s Air Force conducted a strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, in February 2019, in response to the Pulwama terror attack, which resulted in the deaths of over 40 soldiers.