Flagging the comments made by Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Kashmir, government sources said that no bilateral meetings will take place between New Delhi and Islamabad on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) starting Tuesday.
After Dar raked up the issue of Kashmir last week, sources said the multilateral event taking place in the country “is being disregarded by shifting focus” on other issues. Sources in the external affairs ministry said that India’s priority is the SCO meeting that is set to take place in Islamabad. “No pull aside will happen between New Delhi and Islamabad at the SCO contrary to what media reports are suggesting,” they said.
Sources added that Pakistan must not hope for a diplomatic breakthrough or a thaw in relations till they continue to harbour terror. “They attacked us as (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi took oath as India’s prime minister for the third consecutive term at a swearing-in ceremony in Delhi (referring to Reasi) so no question of a pull-aside let alone dialogue,” it added.
The summit comes as both neighbours have ruled out any formal bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the event. India earlier this month said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar would lead a delegation to Pakistan to participate in the SCO summit in Islamabad. However, Jaishankar ruled out chances of bilateral talks during his visit.
Responding to a query about the Jaishankar visit, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch later said, “I would like you to refer to the remarks made by the Indian Minister for External Affairs on 5th of October, in which he maintained that his visit was meant for a multilateral event and not for discussing Pakistan-India relations. These remarks are self-explanatory.”
Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan assumes significance as it is seen as a major decision on New Delhi’s part. The ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after India’s warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot in Pakistan in February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack. India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such engagement.
The 23rd meeting of the heads of government of the SCO member states is set to take place in Islamabad on 15 and 16 October for which the authorities have made strict security arrangements. As foreign delegations started arriving on Sunday, a 76-member Russian delegation and seven representatives of the SCO reached the country.
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