Pakistan rules out talks with India on bilateral issues during Jaishankar's visit

Pakistan on Monday ruled out talks with India on bilateral issues during the upcoming visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Islamabad to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

India on Friday announced that Jaishankar would lead a delegation to Pakistan to participate in the SCO summit in Islamabad. However, Jaishankar ruled out chances of bilateral talks during his visit to Pakistan.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan will host the 23rd Council of Heads of Government of the SCO member States from October 15 to 16 in Islamabad.

Responding to a query about the visit of Jaishankar and India-Pakistan ties, she said Pakistan has received an "intimation officially with regards to this visit" and it was ready to welcome all members.

"Regarding your question about bilateral meetings, I would like you to refer to the remarks made by the Indian Minister for External Affairs on 5th of October, in which he maintained that his visit was meant for a multilateral event and not for discussing Pakistan-India relations. These remarks are self-explanatory,” she said.

The last Indian external affairs minister to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj. She had travelled to Islamabad in December 2015 to attend a conference on Afghanistan.

Jaishankar's visit to Pakistan assumes significance as it is seen as a major decision on New Delhi's part.