Pak minister Bilawal to attend Goa SCO meeting on May 4-5

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20

Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Goa on May 4-5, the neighbouring nation’s foreign office announced on Thursday.

“Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will be leading the Pakistan delegation to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) being held on May 4-5, 2023, in Goa, India,” Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said, ending weeks-long speculation whether he would attend the conference in person amid major differences between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. “Our participation at the meeting reflects Pakistan’s continued commitment to the SCO charter and process and the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities,” said Mumtaz.

Following Pakistan’s announcement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it would not be appropriate to focus on a particular member as India had been inviting all SCO member-states for events under India’s presidency that are underway.

If Bilawal visits India, this will be the first Pakistan Foreign Minister to visit India after nearly 12 years. In 2011, then Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar (now Minister of State for Foreign Affairs) had visited India.

The meeting in Goa could provide a platform for India and Pakistan to break the ice. However, the MEA was noncommittal on this aspect. “Regarding the request for bilateral meetings, I think it is premature. Usually, the EAM does try to hold as many bilateral meetings as he can on the margins of such kinds of multilateral meetings,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

As the current SCO Chair, India will also host the next summit of the council of heads of state this year and good vibes at the Goa conclave could lead to a visit by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as well.

Breaking the ice?

• It will be the first visit by a Pakistan Foreign Minister to India since 2011
• In May 2014, then Pak PM Nawaz Sharif had visited India for PM Narendra Modi’s swearing-in
• In Dec 2015, then EAM Sushma Swaraj visited Pak; days later, Modi made a brief visit
• Ties between the neighbours have soured in recent years over Pak-sponsored terrorism

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