According to Indian media on Wednesday, India has extended an invitation to Pakistan’s foreign minister to attend a conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that it is hosting in May, indicating a potential warming of relations between the two nuclear-armed foes. India invites FM Bilawal for SCO meeting.
The invitation came a few days after Indian Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif demanded dialogue with Pakistan over all unresolved matters, including Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), while stating that dialogue would not be possible until the “illegal actions of August 5, 2019” were undone.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was referred to as the “butcher of Gujarat” in remarks made by Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari just one month earlier, which sparked street protests in India. India referred to Bilawal’s remarks as “uncivilised” but now India invites FM Bilawal for SCO meeting.
Requests from Reuters for comments on the media claims that Bilawal had been invited to the SCO foreign ministers meeting being held in Goa went unanswered right away by the foreign ministry spokespersons for the two countries.
The Indian High Commission in Islamabad, according to the Indian Express newspaper, has delivered the invitation from Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. The “days being looked at, as of today, are May 4 and 5,” it continued.
If Pakistan agrees, Bilawal would travel to India for the first time in almost 12 years as its foreign minister. According to Indian Express, Hina Rabbani Khar made her most recent trip to India in July 2011.
The SCO is made up of the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, with whom Pakistan has recently been stepping up diplomatic relations. It also includes China, India, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan.
The newspaper also reported an Indian “top official” saying: “In keeping with its ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’, India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan. India’s consistent position is that issues, if any, between India and Pakistan should be resolved bilaterally and peacefully, in an atmosphere free of terror and violence.
Since 1947, when they gained independence from British rule, Pakistan and India have fought three wars. Two of the wars were brought on by the polarised IIOJK region of the Himalayas.
When India unilaterally withdrew the autonomous status of occupied Kashmir, tensions erupted once more in late 2019. Shehbaz claimed that “flagrant” human rights breaches were the result of New Delhi’s efforts.
However, there have been some efforts to restart negotiations through covert diplomacy following the suspension of official talks between the two countries.
