SCO moot: Indian FM Jaishankar lauds Pakistan's 'hospitality, courtesies'

Highly impressed and heartened by the warm welcome he received throughout his stay in Islamabad, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar and the government for the “hospitality and courtesies” during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

Jaishankar, who attended the SCO moot held in Islamabad, was the first foreign minister of the neighbouring nation to visit Pakistan in nearly a decade.

Hours after the conclusion of the two-day regional huddle, Jaishankar wrote on his X handle: “Departing from Islamabad. Thank PM @CMShehbaz , DPM & FM @MIshaqDar50 and the Government of Pakistan for the hospitality and courtesies.”

Reacting to his X post, FM Dar thanked his Indian counterpart Jaishankar for his “kind message and participation” in the 23rd meeting of the SCO-CHG meeting.

“Pakistan was honoured to host SCO Member States in Islamabad,” he added.

Meanwhile, sources told Geo News that FM Dar and his Indian counterpart Jaishankar had a brief exchange during the lunch hosted for the leaders attending the SCO summit.

The sources, however, said the details of the discussions between the top officials cannot be revealed at this time.

Speaking about the Indian FM visit to Pakistan in nearly 10 years, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar termed it an "ice breaker".

"Neither us nor them requested for a bilateral meeting... but I believe his arrival here is an ice breaker," AFP quoted the information minister as saying.

"Yesterday, when all the leaders were being welcomed and there were handshakes, I think positive images were sent out globally."

Indian FM Jaishankar and PM Shehbaz greeted each other with a handshake and sombre expressions at the start of an official dinner for the visiting leaders of the SCO bloc on Tuesday.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been particularly sour since 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the limited autonomy of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Jaishankar, in another X post, said that a productive meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government concluded in Islamabad today.

“Signed eight outcome documents. India made a positive and constructive contribution to the deliberations.”

Jaishankar calls for self-accountability for 'lack of trust'

Earlier today, addressing the moot, Indian FM Jaishankar felicitated Islamabad on assuming the SCO chairmanship and said that New Delhi's full support to make its presidency successful.

Underscoring the need to have an honest discussion, Jaishankar called for self-accountability for the existence of a lack of trust, friendship and principles of good neighbourliness.

Saying that the world was moving towards a multi-polar system, the Indian FM noted that globalisation has created opportunities in trade, investment, communication, and other areas of cooperation which can result in regional development if it is taken advantage of.

"[Our] cooperation must be based on mutual respect and sovereign equality, recognise territorial integrity and sovereignty and be built on genuine partnerships, not unilateral agendas," said the Indian dignitary.

"If activities like cross-border terrorism, extremism and separatism continue, it will become difficult to promote trade and communication at the public level," he added while accentuating that one should think about how much nations can benefit if the situation was different.

Furthermore, the Indian minister, while expressing his views on industrial cooperation, said that collaboration in the said domain could enhance competitiveness and expand labour markets.

Noting that joint efforts could promote resource mobilisation and investments, he was of the view that the business community would benefit from larger networks.

"There are vast opportunities for cooperation in environmental protection and climate change initiatives," said the FM.