Moscow to host Sino-Pak-Russia defence, foreign ministers summit

ISLAMABAD: Two sets of back-to-back meetings of Pakistan, China and Russian defence ministers followed by foreign ministers of the three countries in Moscow in second and third week of September would prove to be an important regional development in the wake of global turbulence created by power centres resisting creation of multi-polar world and establishment of new regional blocks.

The ministers will be guest in Kremlin for having the meetings on the brinks of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) multilateral conclaves of eight countries of the region. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told The News Monday evening from Multan that the formal decision would be taken upon his returning to the federal capital.

Indian ministers will also be attending the conclaves and they too will also avail the opportunity to rub their shoulders with the visiting ministers of the member countries. The Moscow conclaves are taking place weeks ahead of 19th SCO Council of Heads of State gathering scheduled to be held in India around the year-end.

It is unlikely that India will avail the opportunity due to COVID-19 critical situation in that country. New Delhi may opt for a video conference, but the decision would be taken in Moscow. Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi have received the invitation for the SCO conclaves.

Well-placed diplomatic sources told The News here Saturday that the SCO conclaves are taking place at a crucial juncture of the region as India has committed aggression against China recently while it has aggravated the relations with Pakistan through nasty action in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and by brutalising the Muslim population in India. Indian are hopeful that their ministers will also have meeting with their counterparts on the occasion.

The SCO charter binds its member countries to not resort to military conflict and settle their disputes through dialogue. The charter discourages the member countries foe having bilateral acrimony. The Moscow gathering will provide opportunity to India for having ministerial echelon talks with Pakistan and China separately.

The diplomatic sources are of the view that Pakistan hasn’t received any request from India for such a bilateral meetings with Pakistan’s ministers on the margins of the gathering although they will sit under one-roof during the course of deliberations in the two SCO meetings. For the reason Pakistan-India talks have less likelihood.

Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu will be the host for defence ministers’ conclaves. He will be meeting Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe and Pakistan’s Pervez Khattak in a trilateral consultations process. Much experienced Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be the host in second week’s gathering where Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Pakistan’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi will have trilateral meeting, the sources hinted. Both the trilateral talks will take place on the sidelines.

Indian sources have confirmed that New Delhi has not yet confirmed any bilateral meeting between Wei and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh or between Wang and Jaishankar and on the margins of the SCO meetings. Neither has it ruled out the possibility of such bilateral engagements in Moscow.

The meeting of the SCO defence ministers is scheduled to take place on September 3 and 4 in Moscow, followed by that of the foreign ministers of the eight-nation-bloc on September 10.

Singh earlier visited Moscow just a few days after the Chinese PLA and the Indian Army had a violent face-off in Galwan Valley on June 15 – on an invitation from his counterpart Shoygu to attend the celebration of the 75th anniversary of erstwhile Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

He parried a bilateral meeting with Chinese Defence Minister, who also attended the ceremony. Jaishankar spoke to Wang over the phone just two days after the clash and discussed ways to de-escalate tension. He also participated in a RIC (Russia-India-China trilateral) video conference with Lavrov and Wang on June 23. Russia has been publicly maintaining that China and India should resolve the stand-off through bilateral talks. It, however, has been quietly in touch with both and has been trying to defuse tension between the two neighbours.

A source in New Delhi told media that Moscow had informally conveyed to both New Delhi and Beijing that it could facilitate bilateral meetings between Chinese and Indian ministers during any of the two or both the SCO meets if the two nations wanted such engagements.