Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has vouched for bilateral talks with India, even as India ruled out such a possibility during the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Islamabad.
In an interview with ARY News, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman urged both nations to engage in dialogue on the sidelines of the SCO meeting. “Why be so rigid?” he questioned. “Both countries must think about having a bilateral talk on the sidelines of the Shanghai Commission Organisation (SCO) Summit. A conversation is necessary, whether today or tomorrow. Even if it is not in the context of the SCO, both countries have to resume bilateral talks sooner or later.”
‘Deep appetite’
Bhutto’s comments come amid heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, with India maintaining its stance against formal dialogue until Pakistan addresses cross-border terrorism. His comments came as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in the Pakistani capital to attend SCO’s Council of Heads of Government (CHG) summit.
On Tuesday, Pakistan’s former interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said that there is a “deep appetite” in Pakistan to see improvement in its ties with India. Kakar said Pakistan’s military, political parties and various other segments in the country desire forward movement in relations between New Delhi and Islamabad, but at the same time, there is a realisation of the ground realities.
“I don’t think there is any expectation that there would be a breakthrough in bilateral relations,” he said, replying to a question by the Indian media. Asked why Pakistan did not propose a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries if it seeks to improve bilateral ties, Kakar said the Pakistani establishment is also apprehensive of facing criticism from the opposition parties if it makes such a move. If anyone in this polarised political environment concedes an inch, then there may be fall-out for that, he noted.
‘Pakistan happy about hosting SCO’
Kakar was Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister between August 2023 and March this year. “Pakistan is quite happy about hosting the multilateral (SCO meeting) and portraying itself as a confident player,” he said. Kakar strongly pitched for improvement in ties between Pakistan and India, saying both sides must find ways for it. In the evening, Jaishankar exchanged pleasantries and briefly interacted with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The brief exchange took place at a dinner reception hosted by Sharif at his residence in honour of the delegates of the SCO member countries. It is the first time in nearly nine years that India’s foreign minister travelled to Pakistan even as the ties between the two neighbours remained tense over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
The external affairs minister will lead the Indian delegation at the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) summit on Wednesday. The last Indian Foreign Minister to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj. She had travelled to Islamabad to attend the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference on Afghanistan that was held on December 8 to 9 in 2015.
India-Pakistan
The ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after India’s warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot in Pakistan in February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack. The relations further deteriorated after India on August 5, 2019 announced the withdrawal of special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories.
Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with India after New Delhi abrogated Article 370. India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such engagement.
(With agency inputs)
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