Pakistan will be surrounded by its own land… What are the expectations from Foreign Minister Jaishankar's visit to Islamabad?

Today is a special day for India and Pakistan. After 9 years, India's Foreign Minister is visiting Pakistan. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar is arriving on 15 October to attend the 23rd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. This will be a two-day meeting.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif will chair this meeting. China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Belarus' PM Roman Golovchenko, Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, Iran's Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will also attend this meeting. The ongoing cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, and environment will be discussed at the SCO summit.

India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has been giving a sharp reply to Pakistan from time to time for commenting on the issues of Jammu and Kashmir. Along with this, he has been cornering Pakistan on terrorism. Due to this, when the Foreign Minister was asked about his Pakistan visit during a press conference on October 5, he said, I am going to Pakistan only for the SCO meeting. He said this visit will be a multilateral one. I am not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations. I am going there to become a member of the SCO.

#WATCH | Delhi: On his upcoming visit to Pakistan to attend the SCO summit, EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, "...It (visit) will be for a multilateral event. I'm not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations. I'm going there to be a good member of the SCO. But, you know, since I'm… pic.twitter.com/XAK2Hg3qSX

— ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2024

The Foreign Minister has already made it clear that he will not participate in any bilateral talks with Pakistan in this meeting and there will be no discussion on India-Pakistan relations in this meeting. The Foreign Minister's entire focus in the meeting will be on the SCO committee and he has planned his visit keeping that in mind.

Pakistan cornered over terrorism.

Before his visit to Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had addressed the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September. The External Affairs Minister had cornered Pakistan in the UNGA over terrorism. The External Affairs Minister had said, I want to make India's position clear that Pakistan's policy of terrorism will never succeed.

Earlier also, on the issue of talks, the Foreign Minister had said in a CII meeting in May that first, they would have to stop supporting terrorism. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has repeatedly emphasized that India's policy against terrorism has always been zero tolerance.

In 2015, former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Pakistan for bilateral talks, but after this, the Pathankot attack took place in 2016. Then the Pulwama attack took place in 2019. Also, in 2019, when Article 370 was removed from Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan dared to continuously interfere in India's internal affairs.

What did Shahbaz Sharif say about J&K?

Recently, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif met Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. India has declared Zakir Naik as wanted. In the UNGA meeting held in September, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif also said that India should withdraw the decision to remove most of the provisions of Article 370 and should hold talks with Pakistan for a peaceful solution to this matter.

Also, PM Sharif dared to compare Kashmir with Palestine. Sharif had said that like the people of Palestine, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have also struggled for a century for their right to freedom.

What is SCO Summit?

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was established in 2001. India was a member of this organization since 2005 but became a permanent member in 2017. Pakistan and Iran also became members of the SCO in 2017. This organization discusses issues related to the politics, economy, development, and military of countries and prepares strategies for the future. The organization aims to curb terrorism and increase cooperation between countries.