SCO meet

The Foreign Office of Pakistan has confirmed that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will be attending a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Goa early next month. This will make Bilawal Bhutto the first Pakistani foreign minister to visit India in nearly 12 years. The Foreign Office has said that Pakistan’s participation in the meeting reflects the country’s commitment to the SCO charter, adding that this is not a visit to discuss bilateral matters. There is as yet no confirmation whether Foreign Minister Bhutto will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the Indian foreign minister.

Relations between Pakistan and India, fraught as they always have been, have only become worse since the Modi-ization of India: a process that has transformed India into a state that openly espouses the Hindutva agenda. Pakistan has time and again made offers of peace, the last time in January with Prime Shehbaz Sharif saying Pakistan was ready to talk if India was ready to discuss Occupied Kashmir. Unfortunately, India’s response to Pakistan’s overtures has either been silence or more hawkish affirmations like the war-like situation after Pulwama and the August 5, 2019, step where India revoked Occupied Kashmir’s special status. That India has been violating human rights in Kashmir almost on a daily basis should be a cause of concern for the world community. Previously, Article 370 of the Indian constitution had granted limited autonomy to the people of Occupied Kashmir but New Delhi never allowed them to enjoy even that authority. The persecution of minorities in India, especially Muslims, has become a routine now and there is no sign coming from the government of India that it is ready for any meaningful talks. It is no secret that India’s policy vis-a-vis Pakistan under the Modi regime has been that of a virtual standoff, and the issue of Kashmir is the main reason why any government in Pakistan is always hesitant to make the first move without an unequivocal commitment by India.

Pakistan has repeated time and again that it wants a peaceful neighbourhood where there isn’t always a looming threat of war of aggression by a bigger neighbour. In a world where economy trumps many other things, where even India and China or China and the United States continue to be trade partners despite hostilities, it is important for India and Pakistan to also give peace a chance. Trade between the two countries has a lot of potential but due to India’s Kashmir policy and the atrocities being committed there, no political government can take the chance of resuming dialogue. Without Kashmir, and any guarantees regarding Kashmir’s special status, it would not be possible to move ahead. Only this Thursday, an Indian army truck filled with fuel oil caught fire in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) area, killing five personnel of the Indian Army. The accident has since been termed ‘terrorism’ by India which has launched a large-scale operation in the occupied territories. No doubt, India will try and drag Pakistan into this incident as well. In this context, meets like the SCO become even more important for regional harmony. There has to be better connectivity in the region to promote peace.