NEW DELHI: India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday said he would visit Islam­a­bad for the SCO summit this month, but has no plans to engage in bilateral talks with Pakistani leaders.

Speaking at a function in New Delhi, Mr Jaishankar said: “Yes, I am scheduled to go to Pakistan in the middle of this month and that is for the meeting of the SCO — the heads of government meeting…I expect that there would be a lot of media interest because the very nature of the relationship is such and I think we will deal with it.

“But I do want to say I will be there for a multilateral event. I mean I am not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations. I am going there to be a good member of the SCO. Since I am a courteous and civil person, I will behave myself accordingly.”

A subsequent comment seemed to keep the possibility open of at least a chance meeting bilaterally with his Pakistani counterpart.

Says Delhi would like to have good ties with Islamabad, but that cannot happen by indulging in ‘wishful thinking’

“Of course, I am planning for it. In my business, you plan for everything that you are going to do, and for a lot of things that you are not going to do, and which could happen also, you plan for that as well.”

This would be the first visit to Pakistan by an Indian External Affairs Minister in nine years — Sushma Swaraj led the Indian delegation to the Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference on Afghanistan that was held in Islamabad on Dec 8-9, 2015.

“Normally the prime minister goes to the high-level meeting, the heads of state, that’s in line with the tradition. It so happens that the meeting is taking place in Pakistan, because, like us, they are a relatively recent member,” Mr Jaishankar added.

Framing India’s approach, the minister, according to The Indian Express, said that “India would certainly like to have [a] good relationship, but that cannot happen by overlooking cross-border terrorism and indulging in wishful thinking.”

Responding to questions on the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, he alleged that “at the moment Saarc is not moving forward, we have not had a meeting of Saarc for a very simple reason that there is one member of Saarc who is practising cross-border terrorism.”

There was a sense of finality in Mr Jaishankar’s comments on Saarc. He alleged that if, despite a global view of [terrorism], one member continues to do it, then it cannot be business as usual in Saarc.

Among the delegates, Mr Jaishankar would be meeting the Chinese too in Islamabad, and interestingly he offered comments on India-China ties too. Their ties were at a “crossroads,” he said.

“The present situation does not serve the interests of either nation. There is a way forward, and that is by reinstating peace and tranquillity in the border areas, respecting the LAC (Line of Actual Control), and not seeking to change the status beyond that.”

According to The Indian Express, Mr Jaishankar underlined the three mutuals — mutual respect, mutual sensitivity, mutual interest — and after all, “the rise of Asia can only happen when India and China have a positive dynamic”.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2024