Chinese minister to attend SCO meet

New Delhi, May 2

China has confirmed that its State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang will visit Myanmar and travel to India to attend the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting. Qin was in India in March to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meet during which he had also held a 35-minute bilateral with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Among other major countries, Pakistan and Russia have also confirmed the visit of their respective Foreign Ministers Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sergey Lavrov, respectively.

Was in India in March too

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang was in India in March to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meet during which he had also held a 35-minute bilateral with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

This time too, Jaishankar is expected to hold bilateral talks with his counterparts from China and Russia, besides their counterparts from Central Asia. A structured bilateral meeting with Bilawal may not be on cards as both sides have so far rebuffed any such possibility. Bilawal had said his visit to Goa “should not be seen as a bilateral” while Jaishankar had said, “It is very difficult for us to engage with a neighbour who practices cross-border terrorism against us.”

Former Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit, who represented the hardliners in the Pakistan Foreign Office, has also thrown a spanner by stating that “India desperately needs a bilateral meeting with Pakistan at Goa. Pakistan mustn’t oblige, for breaking ice is a farce that will only weaken Pakistan’s principled position on Kashmir. India needs to do some soul-searching. More of the same will not work”.

According to Pakistani media, the Chinese Foreign Minister will come to Islamabad after the SCO meeting and hold a trilateral with Bilawal and the Taliban’s interim Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi. Before arriving in India, he will be visiting Myanmar.