Russian FM refused to meet Bilawal, claims Fawad Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday claimed that the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov refused to meet his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent.

In a scathing attack directed at FM Bilawal during a press conference with journalists in Islamabad, the PTI leader said  that the Pakistani foreign minister is on an "internship" and that no one knows him.

On the hand, former human rights minister Shireen Mazari also tweeted about FM Bilawal’s meeting with all foreign ministers at the SCO except those from India and Russia. 

While she appreciated the PPP Chairperson for not meeting his Indian counterpart, she alleged that he avoided the meeting with the Russia FM in fear of the US.

“Bilawal meets all SCO foreign ministers except Indian FM - which was proper given Modi's fascism in IIOJK — and Russian FM. Why would he not meet Lavrov except out of fear of US!” she claimed.

She alleged that “subservience before the US prevented the imported government’s FM” from meeting his Russian counterpart, deeming it “shameful”.

However, FM Bilawal, in an interview to WION News, said that he met with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Foreign Minister's meeting, adding that talks were also held with foreign ministers from Central Asian countries, as well as that of China. He said that discussions held during these meetings were positive and useful.

According to a press release issued by Pakistan’s Foreign Office on July 29, FM Bilawal held important, in-depth interactions with his counterparts from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. However, there is no mention of his meeting with his Russian counterpart. Earlier, he also met with the Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi.

FM Bilawal led the Pakistan delegation to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting in Tashkent from July 28 to 29. During his official engagements at the meeting, he highlighted “Pakistan’s perspective on important regional and international issues of concern to SCO member states”.

“Commenting on the developing geo-political changes and challenges to the international economic order in the post-Covid era, he emphasized that ‘shared prosperity’ was a sine qua non for peace, stability and development in the SCO region and globally,” the statement read.