New Delhi/Islamabad: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation at the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Governments (CHG) meeting, scheduled to be held in Islamabad on October 15-16.
The SCO is a significant regional platform where India and Pakistan, along with other member states, discuss and cooperate on various regional and global issues.
“The External Affairs Minister will lead our delegation to Pakistan to participate in the SCO Summit, which will be held in Islamabad,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi.
At this point, the spokesperson has made it clear that there are no details available on any potential bilateral engagements that EAM Jaishankar may have during his Pakistan visit, adding an element of anticipation and curiosity to the event.
As part of the formal process, Pakistan invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the meeting.
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Jaishankar’s participation in the meeting is in line with the past, as the SCO meeting does not require heads of state to participate, and Indian ministerial delegations have been a familiar presence at these meetings in the past.
“Extending an invitation to PM Modi and all other member states is a compulsive protocol any host country follows. Pakistan has done the same. I do not see this as a political stunt. However, I do not see PM Modi landing in Islamabad,” political analyst Kamran Yousaf had told IANS in August, this year.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India for the SCO Foreign Ministers meeting last year.
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–IANS
