External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation to Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Heads of Government meeting in Islamabad on October 15-16, 2024. The announcement was made by the Ministry of External Affairs on October 4.
India received the invitation from Pakistan for the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting on August 30. As the current chair of the SCO, Pakistan will host the two-day summit, which will focus on enhancing financial, economic, socio-cultural, and humanitarian cooperation among member states.
Preceding the summit, a series of ministerial meetings and discussions among senior officials will take place. The SCO, established in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, has evolved into a significant trans-regional economic and security bloc. India and Pakistan became permanent members in 2017, with Iran joining last year during a virtual summit hosted by India.
This visit marks a notable moment, as no Indian minister has attended a multilateral meeting in Pakistan since Home Minister Rajnath Singh participated in the SAARC Home Minister’s meeting in August 2016.
The last visit by an External Affairs Minister to Pakistan was by Sushma Swaraj in December 2015. Since then, diplomatic relations have been strained, especially following the terror attacks on the Pathankot airbase and Uri Army camp in 2016, which led India to call off the SAARC Summit in Pakistan.
In recent years, India has only made exceptions for events such as the inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor, where two Union Ministers represented the country.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi technically holds the position of Head of Government, India and Pakistan agreed during their entry into the SCO that their elected leaders would attend the Heads of State summit, along with the presidents of other member countries.
Consequently, Prime Minister Modi has delegated the attendance of SCO Heads of Government conferences to the Vice-President or External Affairs Minister.
In related news, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu is also scheduled to visit India from October 7 to October 10. This visit marks President Muizzu's first bilateral trip to India, during which he is expected to visit Mumbai and Bengaluru.