Jaishankar rules out India-Pakistan talks at SCO Summit in Islamabad
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has clarified that his upcoming visit to Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting will not include any bilateral discussions. This will be the first visit by an Indian External Affairs minister in nearly nine years, amid strained relations between the two nations. "The visit will be for a multilateral event. I'm not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations," he stated.
Jaishankar criticizes Pakistan over SAARC progress
Jaishankar also criticized Pakistan for hindering the progress of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). He attributed the lack of recent SAARC meetings to one member's involvement in cross-border terrorism. "Terrorism is something which is unacceptable and despite a global view of it if one of our neighbors continues to do it - there cannot be business as usual in SAARC," he said, referring to Pakistan's alleged cross-border terror activities against India.
Jaishankar addresses Sardar Patel lecture on governance
Jaishankar also touched upon India's historical approach to international relations. He highlighted Sardar Patel's opposition to involving the United Nations in India's internal affairs and criticized former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's policies toward China. "India's relationship with China is similarly an issue on which the Sardar Patel instincts are on record, and they differ considerably from that of Prime Minister Nehru," he said.
Patel, Nehru's views
"In Patel's view, India had done everything to allay China's apprehensions, but that country regarded us with suspicion and skepticism, perhaps mixed with a little hostility." "Pandit Nehru, in contrast, referred to China's protestations of friendship and warned against losing our sense of perspective and giving way to unreasoning fears. To him, it was inconceivable that China would undertake what he called a wild adventure across the Himalayas. He did not," Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar's visit announced by External Affairs Ministry
The SCO summit is scheduled for October 15-16. Pakistan, currently holding the rotating chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG), will host the two-day in-person meeting. Known as the "alliance of the East," the SCO covers three-fifths of the Eurasian continent and nearly half of the human population. It represents around 42% of the world's population and 20% of global GDP.
