For the first time in nine years, an Indian foreign minister will travel to Pakistan with the govt confirming that S Jaishankar will represent India at the SCO heads of govt meeting in Islamabad on October 15-16.
Pakistan had invited PM Narendra Modi for the meeting. However, with Modi’s participation in SCO restricted to the heads of state summit, the key question always was whether he would nominate Jaishankar, who has participated in the same meetings in the past, given the troubled relationship.
While more a formality in line with SCO protocol than a peace outreach, the invite opens the possibility of a rare high-level visit from India to Islamabad, even though ties remain downgraded since the revocation of the special status of J&K in August 2019.
The decision to send Jaishankar is significant as India had the option of sending a junior minister or participating virtually. Jaishankar had said recently India is not passive on Pakistan and will react accordingly to both positive and negative developments.
Whether or not there’s a bilateral meeting with Pakistan foreign minister Ishaq Dar is likely to depend more on the host.
India’s last high commissioner to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria, said the ball is now firmly in Pakistan's court as by sending Jaishankar India has made a bold move, signalling its desire to stabilise this troubled relationship.
“Pakistan must seize this opportunity and as the host propose a meaningful bilateral conversation on the SCO sidelines. A good starting point for both countries would be to grab some low-hanging fruit - exchanging high commissioners and reviving trade ties,” he said.
While announcing Jaishankar’s participation, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the visit was about SCO and not much should be read into it.
The visit also underscores the significance India attaches to the Eurasian bloc amid speculation over India’s commitment to the grouping after Modi skipped the heads of state summit in July this year in Kazakhstan. Despite the Chinese predominance, and efforts to position it as an anti-West forum, SCO remains an important platform for India to build ties with resource rich central Asia.
