New Delhi (Web Desk) A spokesperson for the Indian foreign ministry on Friday announced that Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar would travel to Pakistan later this month to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
At a weekly news briefing, Randhir Jaiswal stated, "The minister of external affairs will lead a delegation to Pakistan to participate in the SCO Summit which will be held on October 15 and 16."
This will be the first visit to Pakistan by any Indian foreign minister in almost a decade.
Earlier, the Foreign Office (FO) had confirmed that Indian Prime Minister Modi has been invited to the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting, which Pakistan is hosting on Oct 15-16, under its rotating chairmanship.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister of Interior Mohsin Naqvi chaired a meeting on Wednesday where a thorough security strategy for the forthcoming SCO conference was finalized.
“Additional personnel from Pakistan Army, Rangers, FC and Punjab police will be deployed to ensure foolproof security for the guests,” the interior minister said.
In May 2023, former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari visited India in order to participate in the two-day SCO Council of foreign ministers’ conference.
He was the first Pakistani foreign minister to visit India in over a decade.
Later that month, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari briefing the Senate panel, had termed it a “productive and positive decision” to participate in the event.
"My conclusion after the trip is that it is a productive and positive decision to participate in the event as far as the Kashmir issue, bilateral issues between Pakistan and India, and the responsibilities of multilateralism are concerned," he had stated.
Similarly, in December 2016, Sartaj Aziz, the then former foreign affairs adviser, had traveled to Amritsar for the Heart of Asia conference.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also took part in the virtual SCO Council of Heads of State that India convened on July 4, 2023, indicating Pakistan's willingness to participate despite their tense bilateral ties.