New Delhi (Web Desk): India’s Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Saturday said he was going to Pakistan for a "multilateral event" and not to discuss Indo-Pak relations.
He said this while responding to a query at an event in New Delhi.
“I expect there would be a lot of media interest because of the very nature of the relationship,” Jaishankar said in response to a query at an event in New Delhi.
“But I do want to say it will be for a multilateral event. I am not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations,” he added.
“I am going there to be a good member of the SCO but since I am a courteous and civil person, I will behave myself accordingly,” he said.
On Friday, 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."
Earlier, Pakistan’s 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.
This will be the first visit to Pakistan by any Indian foreign minister in almost a decade.
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.
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.