EAM S Jaishankar to Visit Pakistan for SCO Summit on October-15: What's on the Agenda?

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to visit Pakistan on October 15 to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

During a press conference, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed that Jaishankar will lead a delegation to the SCO summit, which will take place in Islamabad on October 15 and 16.

Pakistan had extended an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the summit. As the current chair of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, Pakistan will host the two-day summit, which will include discussions on financial, economic, socio-cultural, and humanitarian cooperation among the member nations.

The SCO, comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, is a major international organization focusing on regional security and economic collaboration.

The agenda for the SCO summit, which EAM S Jaishankar will attend in Pakistan on October 15, is expected to focus on strengthening financial and economic cooperation among member states. Key discussions will likely include regional security, counterterrorism efforts, and socio-cultural initiatives. Humanitarian collaboration, along with strategies for addressing emerging challenges in the region, will also be central to the talks..

In a show of cooperation, Pakistan and India have both engaged in various SCO meetings. India hosted the summit last year in a virtual format, with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attending via video link. In May 2023, Pakistan's then foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, visited India for the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting, marking the first visit by a Pakistani foreign minister to India in nearly 12 years.

Despite ongoing tensions between the two countries, particularly over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism, India has emphasized its desire for peaceful neighborly relations, stressing that Pakistan must ensure an environment free from terror for constructive engagement.

Relations between the two nations deteriorated in 2019 after India revoked Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, leading Pakistan to downgrade diplomatic ties.

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