External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday (October 16, 2024) called out the “unilateral” connectivity moves in the region in his address at a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Indicating China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Mr. Jaishankar said cross-border terrorism, extremism and separatism are “three evils” that bedevil ties on trade and travel, people to people relations
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday welcomed Mr. Jaishankar to the summit. This is the first such visit by an Indian Foreign Minister in nine years, and the first such interaction between the Indian and Pakistani leadership since the SCO Foreign Minister’s meeting in May 202
The leaders, including seven Prime Ministers from Russia, China, Belarus, and Central Asian nations, Iran’s Vice-President and Mr. Jaishankar, gathered for group photographs on Wednesday morning, followed by the plenary session of the 23rd SCO CHG.
If trust is lacking or cooperation inadequate if friendship has fallen short and good neighbourliness is missing somewhere, there are surely reasons to introspect and causes to address, the External Affairs Minister said on Wednesday.
“Cooperation must be based on mutual respect and sovereign equality. It should recognize territorial integrity and sovereignty. It must be built on genuine partnerships, not unilateral agendas. It cannot progress if we cherry-pick global practices, especially of trade and transit,” the Minister said.
The SCO is expected to sign several documents including the SCO Economic Preference Base, Cooperation between Trade Promotion Organizations of the SCO Member-States and a Framework for Cooperation among the SCO Member-States in the field of creative economy development
The SCO is also expected to sign a document on the New Economic Dialogue Program
The Minister further added that if the activities across borders are characterized by terrorism, extremism and separatism, they are hardly likely to encourage trade, energy flows, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges in parallel.
Mr. Jaishankar is in Pakistan to participate in the 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government being held today. Visuals of the meeting from state-run Pakistan Television showed Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Sharif exchanging a handshake and posing for photographs together for the media.
Attending a dinner hosted by Mr. Sharif shortly after arriving in Islamabad on Tuesday (October 15, 2024), Mr. Jaishankar shook hands and exchanged greetings with Mr. Sharif.
The SCO Foreign Minister’s meeting in May 2023 had ended in an acrimonious exchange of statements between Mr. Jaishankar and then-Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Upon his arrival at the Rawalpindi airport, Mr. Jaishankar was warmly received at Nur Khan Airbase by Ilyas Mehmood Nizami, Director General (South Asia) of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Children dressed in traditional attire presented him with flower bouquets.
The two-day meeting of SCO CHG, the second highest forum within the SCO, will be chaired by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Sharif as the current chair of the Council.
