S Jaishankar to visit Pakistan; Indian External Affairs Minister's first visit to Pakistan in nine years

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be leaving for Pakistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State summit in Islamabad. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit is scheduled to be held in Islamabad on the 15th and 16th. Jaishankar's visit to Pakistan comes at a time when India-Pakistan diplomatic relations have been strained over cross-border terrorism. Sushma Swaraj was the last External Affairs Minister to visit Pakistan in 2015.

MEA spokesperson said that an Indian delegation led by Jaishankar will participate in the summit and the visit to Pakistan is only for this purpose. Pakistan had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the summit. India-Pakistan diplomatic relations have been strained since the February 2019 Pulwama terror attack and India's air strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror training camp in Balakot in retaliation. Pakistan's opposition to the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, including in international fora, had also strained diplomatic relations. However, Jaishankar is being sent with the view that India should participate in the summit, which aims at regional security cooperation.

The SCO member states are India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Established in Shanghai in 2001, the SCO was signed in 2017 by India and Pakistan.