Pakistan, India FMs meeting unlikely during SCO summit

Ag APP

ISLAMABAD: With Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif flying off to Beijing next Tuesday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, re-alignment in the region is on display as changing security scenarios see new alliances being forged in the region.

While Beijing should provide an opportunity for informal bilateral talks on the sidelines between Pakistan and India with the presence of Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, it is unlikely that the two neighbours will take advantage of this opportunity to hold talks.

Besides regional and international issues, discussions under the SCO’s Regional Counter Terrorism Structure, dealing with terrorism, separatism, extremism will be of added significance, an issue of vital importance to all SCO member states.

However, all eyes are on an expected meeting between Khawaja Asif and his Russian counterpart Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov on the sidelines of the SCO at a time when Moscow has counselled that problems between India and Pakistan should be resolved diplomatically in line with the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration, and Russia would support such a cooperation, peace and stability.

During the meeting matters of mutual interest including security situation in the region were discussed, said a statement issued here by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The visiting delegation acknowledged and appreciated Pakistan Army’s sincere efforts and sacrifices in the war against terrorism and for stability in the region. The Uzbek side underlined the need for actualising the great potential for cooperation among the two brotherly countries in all fields including trade, connectivity, security and military-to-military cooperation.