Pak rules out bilateral talks during EAM’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 would host the 23rd SCO summit from October 15 to 16 in Islamabad. Responding to a query about the visit of Jaishankar and India-Pakistan ties, she said Pakistan had received an “intimation officially with regards to this visit” and it was ready to welcome all members.

“Regarding the question about bilateral meetings, I would like to refer to the remarks made by the Indian Minister of External Affairs on October 5 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.