This week Worldview comes to you from Pakistan. S Jaishankar traveled to Islamabad for meetings with the SCO and Pakistan’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
Dr. Jaishankar’s first visit to Pakistan is one of these:
– First visit by any Indian minister since 2016 – when Home Minister Rajnath Singh attended the SAARC meeting
– First visit by an Indian Foreign Minister since 2015 – when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended the Heart of Asia conference
– This is Jaishankar’s first visit since December 2015, when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and PM Modi had come.
What happened in SCO?
Now the SCO meeting itself was not at the highest level, but at the level of heads of government of the 10 SCO countries Russia, China, 4 Central Asian states Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Iran, Belarus, Pakistan and India.
The meeting saw the signing of 8 MoUs, mainly on economic cooperation, as well as the passing of a budget ahead of the next SCO summit in China in 2025.
More importantly, both India and Pakistan refrained from finger-pointing in the previous meetings.
In stark contrast to former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who visited Goa for the SCO FM, Mr Sharif made no veiled reference to Kashmir.
And Mr Jaishankar spoke about India’s concerns on terrorism using only the SCO charter language, which identifies terrorism, separatism and extremism as ills the region is grappling with.
Jaishankar also referred to India’s objections to China’s BRI and passage through the disputed PoK and said territorial sovereignty should be respected.
Jaishankar also met his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar twice – once over dinner and once over lunch, both hosted by PM Sharif, and it is understood that they held “informal talks”. However, the Foreign Ministry did not attach much importance to the substance of the talks.
“In Islamabad, you must have seen, the only bilateral meeting of our foreign minister was with Mongolia. Additionally, some pleasantries were exchanged on the sidelines of the meeting, particularly during lunch and dinner. That’s all,” Randhir Jaiswal said.
Perhaps the clearest sign of some moderation came not from the official, but from the unofficial side, as former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is the elder brother of PM Shehbaz and father of Pakistan Punjab CM Maryam Sharif. Sat down with Indian journalists to talk about his perspective For better state of relations. Here are the highlights:
– He said India and Pakistan should forget the past and seek future cooperation on trade, energy, tackling climate change – but refused to respond to past issues of terrorism for India and Kashmir for Pakistan. Gave.
– He lauded Mr Modi’s visit to Lahore, calling it no small gesture and attacked former PM Imran Khan for his personal criticism of Modi in 2019, comparisons with Hitler and Mussolini.
– He believes that trade, rail and road connectivity should be restored, Pakistan should be removed in 2019, high commissioners should be reassigned, and India and Pakistan cricket teams should play in each other’s countries. Play should resume in the U.S. – starting with the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in February.
Mr Sharif’s message was the third in a series – in May he had said the Kargil war was a mistake, and the Foreign Ministry welcomed the “objective approach” on Pakistani action. In June, he tweeted and congratulated PM Modi for his third term and PM Modi responded warmly.
– Mr Sharif is not in office, and so it is not clear whether he spoke for the government, but he is the president.
Timings of any new opening:
1. Both elections this year – Governments are expected to remain stable
2. Conflicts in other parts of the world – No desire for hostilities between India and Pakistan
3. Difficulties in Pakistan’s economy
4. Accusations against India by America, Canada, Qatar and Pakistan – time has come to pay attention to this
5. South Asian turmoil – time to revive regional cooperation
Take a World View:
Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan, though purely for multilateral purposes, signals a possible opening of engagement. To begin with, if India can send a minister to Pakistan for one regional cooperation meeting like SCO, why not for another meeting like SAARC. There is too much bad blood between the two countries for any real optimism for the future, but such visits could create the atmosphere for a restoration of relations that – in the current trough – even the absence of negativity is a positive step.
Reading Recommendations:
Poles Apart: The Military and Democracy in India and Pakistan, by Aditya Sondhi
Anger Management: Troubled Diplomatic Relations between India and Pakistan, by Ajay Bisaria
India’s Pakistan Puzzle: Managing a Complex Relationship, by Sharat Sabharwal
The People Next Door: The Curious History of India-Pakistan Relations by TCA Raghavan
Hostility by Abdul Basit
An Indian Woman in Islamabad: 1997-2000 by Ruchi Ghanshyam
In Search of Peace: India-Pakistan Relations under Six Prime Ministers, by Satinder Kumar Lamba
Screenplay and presentation: Suhasini Haider
Production: Shibu Narayan and Sabika Syed
published – October 18, 2024 10:59 PM IST