Four former High Commissioners to Pakistan say India should attend the meeting, that it is not necessary to hold bilateral talks
As the government considers a decision to send External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to Pakistan next month to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) ‘Heads of Government’ meeting, former High Commissioners told The Hindu that it is important that India participate in the event, separating the failure of bilateral ties from the “value” of the SCO grouping that comprises 10 Eurasian countries, including Russia and China.
According to sources, the government is likely to convey who it will depute for the event on October 15-16 in Islamabad in place of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after Dr. Jaishankar returns from the United States next week. Neither India nor Pakistan send their Prime Ministers to the Heads of Government event, as they attend at the level of ‘Heads of State’ instead, deputing a Minister or the Vice-President in their place.
At least two official sources confirmed to The Hindu that the External Affairs Minister was likely to be New Delhi’s choice to attend the summit virtually, or in-person, while one senior official acknowledged, on condition of anonymity, that a visit by Dr. Jaishankar to Pakistan, which would be the first such visit in nearly a decade, “could not be ruled out”. On Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs shared details for accreditation of Indian journalists for the event in Islamabad in one possible signal that the government hopes to send a high-level dignitary to the SCO event.
“India would only be repaying the favour Pakistan had done by sending [then] Foreign Minister [Bilawal] Bhutto to Goa when India hosted the SCO Foreign Ministers meet in Goa in 2023,” India’s last High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria said. “This would be a good opportunity for India to fulfil its plurilateral commitments while leaving the bilateral ball in Pakistan’s court,” Mr. Bisaria, who was expelled in August 2019 after the government’s moves to amend Article 370 and reorganise Jammu and Kashmir, added. He also pointed to Dr. Jaishankar’s recent statement that India would not be “passive”, and would “react” to both “positive or negative” moves from Pakistan.
During the SCO meeting in Goa, Mr. Bhutto and Dr. Jaishankar exchanged greetings but did not hold a bilateral meeting, and the visit ended with both holding acrimonious press conferences criticising each other.
Speaking to The Hindu, three other former High Commissioners to Pakistan agreed that India must participate in the SCO meeting in Islamabad, but Dr. Jaishankar was not bound to hold bilateral talks there with his current counterpart Ishaq Dhar.
“We should not allow India-Pakistan issues to corrode our other relationships. SCO has a certain value for India and we should not let our bilateral difference overshadow that value, as has become the case with SAARC,” said former High Commissioner to Pakistan (2013-2016) T.C.A. Raghavan, who served in Islamabad the last time a Foreign Minister, the late Sushma Swaraj, visited in December 2015, adding however that a “bilateral opening” could never be ruled out when the External Affairs Minister visits another country.
“The SCO is very important for India,” Gautam Bambawale, who preceded Mr. Bisaria as High Commissioner to Pakistan (2016-2017), said. “However, government must make it very clear that the visit is only for the SCO and there will not be any bilateral meeting with Pakistan,” he said, adding that the External Affairs Minister should attend “as is normal” for India.
“If the External Affairs Minister goes, it will be in keeping with the past practice,” concurred former High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal (2009-2013) “I see no reason not to have in-person participation in the meeting just because it is in Islamabad,” he added.
If Dr. Jaishankar does visit Pakistan for the SCO meeting, it would be in stark contrast to the Modi government’s policy on SAARC meetings thus far. No Indian Minister has attended a multilateral meeting in Pakistan since Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited Islamabad for the SAARC Home Minister’s meeting in August 2016, and the last time an External Affairs Minister visited was Sushma Swaraj’s visit in December 2015 ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Christmas visit to Lahore the same month. After terror attacks on the Pathankot airbase and the Uri Army camp in 2016, India called off the SAARC Summit in Pakistan and has refused to attend any subsequent meetings in Pakistan. The only exceptions made by the government in the last few years is for the inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor, where it sent two Union Ministers.
In New York on Tuesday, Dr. Jaishankar defended India’s engagement with the SCO. “The SCO was focused much more on countering radicalism and terrorism. That’s where it began. And today it has perhaps evolved into something more so for us,” Dr. Jaishankar said, speaking at the Asia Society Policy Institute during his ongoing U.S. visit (September 21-Ocotber 2). “So to have this range of options, a combination of partners working multiple agendas at the same time is how it is going to go,” he said, when asked about possible contradictions in India’s membership of the Quad and the BRICS and SCO groupings.
Government mulls decision to send Jaishankar for SCO in Islamabad
Four former High Commissioners to Pakistan say India should attend the meeting, that it is not necessary to hold bilateral talks
As the government considers a decision to send External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to Pakistan next month to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) ‘Heads of Government’ meeting, former High Commissioners told The Hindu that it is important that India participate in the event, separating the failure of bilateral ties from the “value” of the SCO grouping that comprises 10 Eurasian countries, including Russia and China.
According to sources, the government is likely to convey who it will depute for the event on October 15-16 in Islamabad in place of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after Dr. Jaishankar returns from the United States next week. Neither India nor Pakistan send their Prime Ministers to the Heads of Government event, as they attend at the level of ‘Heads of State’ instead, deputing a Minister or the Vice-President in their place.
At least two official sources confirmed to The Hindu that the External Affairs Minister was likely to be New Delhi’s choice to attend the summit virtually, or in-person, while one senior official acknowledged, on condition of anonymity, that a visit by Dr. Jaishankar to Pakistan, which would be the first such visit in nearly a decade, “could not be ruled out”. On Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs shared details for accreditation of Indian journalists for the event in Islamabad in one possible signal that the government hopes to send a high-level dignitary to the SCO event.
“India would only be repaying the favour Pakistan had done by sending [then] Foreign Minister [Bilawal] Bhutto to Goa when India hosted the SCO Foreign Ministers meet in Goa in 2023,” India’s last High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria said. “This would be a good opportunity for India to fulfil its plurilateral commitments while leaving the bilateral ball in Pakistan’s court,” Mr. Bisaria, who was expelled in August 2019 after the government’s moves to amend Article 370 and reorganise Jammu and Kashmir, added. He also pointed to Dr. Jaishankar’s recent statement that India would not be “passive”, and would “react” to both “positive or negative” moves from Pakistan.
During the SCO meeting in Goa, Mr. Bhutto and Dr. Jaishankar exchanged greetings but did not hold a bilateral meeting, and the visit ended with both holding acrimonious press conferences criticising each other.
Speaking to The Hindu, three other former High Commissioners to Pakistan agreed that India must participate in the SCO meeting in Islamabad, but Dr. Jaishankar was not bound to hold bilateral talks there with his current counterpart Ishaq Dhar.
“We should not allow India-Pakistan issues to corrode our other relationships. SCO has a certain value for India and we should not let our bilateral difference overshadow that value, as has become the case with SAARC,” said former High Commissioner to Pakistan (2013-2016) T.C.A. Raghavan, who served in Islamabad the last time a Foreign Minister, the late Sushma Swaraj, visited in December 2015, adding however that a “bilateral opening” could never be ruled out when the External Affairs Minister visits another country.
“The SCO is very important for India,” Gautam Bambawale, who preceded Mr. Bisaria as High Commissioner to Pakistan (2016-2017), said. “However, government must make it very clear that the visit is only for the SCO and there will not be any bilateral meeting with Pakistan,” he said, adding that the External Affairs Minister should attend “as is normal” for India.
“If the External Affairs Minister goes, it will be in keeping with the past practice,” concurred former High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal (2009-2013) “I see no reason not to have in-person participation in the meeting just because it is in Islamabad,” he added.
If Dr. Jaishankar does visit Pakistan for the SCO meeting, it would be in stark contrast to the Modi government’s policy on SAARC meetings thus far. No Indian Minister has attended a multilateral meeting in Pakistan since Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited Islamabad for the SAARC Home Minister’s meeting in August 2016, and the last time an External Affairs Minister visited was Sushma Swaraj’s visit in December 2015 ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Christmas visit to Lahore the same month. After terror attacks on the Pathankot airbase and the Uri Army camp in 2016, India called off the SAARC Summit in Pakistan and has refused to attend any subsequent meetings in Pakistan. The only exceptions made by the government in the last few years is for the inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor, where it sent two Union Ministers.
In New York on Tuesday, Dr. Jaishankar defended India’s engagement with the SCO. “The SCO was focused much more on countering radicalism and terrorism. That’s where it began. And today it has perhaps evolved into something more so for us,” Dr. Jaishankar said, speaking at the Asia Society Policy Institute during his ongoing U.S. visit (September 21-Ocotber 2). “So to have this range of options, a combination of partners working multiple agendas at the same time is how it is going to go,” he said, when asked about possible contradictions in India’s membership of the Quad and the BRICS and SCO groupings.
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