India’s Top Diplomat Visits Pakistan After 10 Years, But ‘No Bilateral Meeting Requested’
Ice Breaker in India-Pakistan Relations?
The first visit to Pakistan by a top Indian diplomat in nearly 10 years was an "ice breaker", said the information minister, Attaullah Tarar, on Wednesday, as regional heads of governments gathered for a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
Tensions Still High between India and Pakistan
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan are bitter adversaries with longstanding political tensions, having fought several wars and numerous smaller skirmishes since they were carved out of the subcontinent’s partition in 1947.
No Formal Bilateral Meeting Held
"Neither us nor them requested for a bilateral meeting… but I believe his arrival here is an ice breaker," Tarar said on the sidelines of the summit in the capital Islamabad. "Yesterday, when all the leaders were being welcomed and there were handshakes, I think positive images were sent out globally."
Indian and Pakistani Leaders Meet Briefly
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif greeted each other with a handshake and sombre expressions at the start of an official dinner for the visiting leaders of the SCO bloc on Tuesday.
Tensions Remain High in Kashmir
Relations between neighbours India and Pakistan have been particularly sour since 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the limited autonomy of Indian-administered Kashmir. Modi’s 2019 move was celebrated across India but led Pakistan to suspend bilateral trade and downgrade diplomatic ties with New Delhi. The Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both in full, with each accusing the other of stoking militancy there.
SCO Meets in Islamabad
Premiers from SCO member states China, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan all attended the meeting in a Pakistani capital that was locked down by tight security.
Regional Cooperation Emphasized
In his address, Jaishankar stressed the importance of "mutual trust, friendship, and good neighbourliness". "If activities across borders are characterised by terrorism, extremism, and separatism, they are hardly likely to encourage trade, energy flows, connectivity, and people-to-people exchanges in parallel," he said.
Sharif Calls for Collective Security and Cooperation
Sharif opened the meeting on Wednesday with an address in which he called on the China- and Russia-led bloc to ensure "collective security" and cooperation for "sustainable development and prosperity for the SCO region". He called on leaders to prevent militant groups from flourishing in Afghanistan. "The international community must step forward" to press the Taliban government and "ensure Afghan soil is not misused for terrorism against its neighbours", Sharif said.
Opportunities for Trade and Transit
Afghanistan, at a crossroads between the bloc’s members, presents "an invaluable and rare opportunity for trade and transit benefitting all SCO member states", he said. It has observer status at the SCO but has not been invited to international conferences since the Taliban ousted the Western-backed government in Kabul three years ago.
Conclusion
The visit by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to Pakistan is a significant development in the region, as it marks the first such visit by a top Indian diplomat in nearly 10 years. While there were no formal bilateral talks held, the handshake between Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is seen as a positive step towards improving relations between the two countries. However, the ongoing tensions in Kashmir remain a significant challenge to be addressed in order to improve relations between India and Pakistan.
FAQs
Q: Why did Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visit Pakistan?
A: Jaishankar attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Islamabad to represent India.
Q: What was the significance of Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan?
A: It marked the first visit by a top Indian diplomat in nearly 10 years and is seen as a positive step towards improving Indo-Pak relations.
Q: What are the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan?
A: The tensions remain high due to the divided status of Kashmir, which is claimed by both countries in full, and the frequent crossing of the border by militant groups.