Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar welcomed Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday as the latter arrived at the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Goa.
The meeting of the CFM was scheduled to begin in the morning and by noon, the "decision document" will be signed, which will be followed by a working lunch.
FM Bilawal — who is leading the country's delegation — arrived in Goa on Thursday to attend the the two-day meeting of the SCO CFM.
Meanwhile, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zehra Baloch said India has given Pakistan no reason to complain regarding Bilawal’s visit to attend SCO moot in Goa.
“They haven’t given us a chance to complain. All is well so far,” she said.
When asked if Bilawal's handshake with his Indian counterpart Jaishankar was reflective of past bitterness, Baloch said: “You are giving it a lot of importance. It was a routine formality.”
A day earlier, Bilawal arrived in the Indian city on his first-ever visit to India, hoping for a "successful" meeting of the SCO foreign ministers.
Following his arrival, Bilawal became the first Pakistani foreign minister who visited the neighbouring country after a gap of nearly 12 years.
Speaking to the media after landing in Goa, the foreign minister said: "I am happy that I have reached here in Goa to attend the SCO meeting. I hope that the SCO CFM will be a success."
The spokesperson further said that a host welcomed Bilawal like they did for other foreign ministers.
Responding to a question regarding Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to India in July to attend the SCO summit, the FO spokesperson said it is too early to say anything at the moment.
During the visit, Bilawal — alongside his delegation — is set to engage with several of his counterparts from different nations.
In a video message that he posted on Twitter, the foreign minister said he is scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. Then, he will meet Uzbekistan's Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov.
Following the meetings, Bilawal is set to attend a dinner in which foreign ministers from all the nations will be present. After that, he is set to engage with media personnel for interviews.
'No justification for terrorism'
During the moot, Dr Jaishankar said: “As SCO chair we've initiated an unprecedented engagement with SCO observers and dialogue partners by inviting them to participate in more than 14 social-cultural events.”
Talking to the participants, he said that the SCO platform was in its third decade of existence.
“This is an opportune time for reform and modernisation of the SCO to keep it relevant in a rapidly reforming world,” he said, adding that he was pleased to note that “discussions for reform and modernisation have already commenced.”
Furthermore, the host reiterated his country’s “long-standing” demand that English be made the third official language of the moot. At the moment Russian and Mandarin are the languages used at the form officially.
Dr Jaishankar contended that using English would enable a deeper engagement from English-speaking states and take the SCO to reach a larger international platform.
He also shared that progress had been made of including Iran and Belarus as full members of the SCO.
During his speech, the host also discussed the rise of terrorism in the world.
“While the world faced COVID-19 and its consequences, the menace of terrorism continues unabated,” he said, adding that taking eyes of this menace is detrimental to the security interests of all.
Dr Jaishankar added that there was “no justification for terrorism” and that it must be stopped in “all its forms and manifestations” including cross-border terrorism.
“Channels of financing terror must be seized and blocked without distinction,” he stressed, adding that combatting terrorism was one of the original mandates of the SCO.
