NEW DELHI: The much-awaited Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers’ meeting begins in Goa on Thursday. Foreign ministers of Russia, China and Pakistan are among those who will attend this meeting in person. The main meeting will be on Friday.
Bilateral talks between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Russia’s foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and China’s foreign minister Qin Gang are lined up for Thursday. However, there is no clarity yet on whether there would be any exclusive interaction with Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Bilawal’s is the first visit by a Pakistani foreign minister after a gap of 12 years. India will host a cultural event and a dinner on Thursday evening for its counterparts from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
During the course of the evening, Jaishankar will get to meet Bilawal in person. During the G-20 foreign ministers meeting on March 2, Jaishankar met his counterparts from China and Russia. India is likely to raise its concern about the Ladakh military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Disengagement of troops at remaining friction points in order to facilitate the normalisation of bilateral ties may also figure in talks.
The Chinese foreign ministry has said Qin will use the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting to exchange views with his counterparts on the regional and international situation and cooperation in different fields to prepare for the SCO Summit. Meanwhile, the bilateral meeting between Jaishankar Lavrov will be an opportunity for the two sides to assess steps taken by India and Russia to bolster trade, including trade in local currencies.
Russia’s foreign ministry has said the meeting of the SCO Council of foreign ministers will focus on finalising “substantive content” for the upcoming SCO summit scheduled for July 3-4 in New Delhi.
The meeting will also discuss drafts of relevant documents and decisions.
The SCO is primarily a Eurasian political, economic, security and defence organisation. It is said to be the world’s largest regional organisation in terms of geographic expanse and population – which covers over 40 per cent of the world’s population and 20 per cent of the GDP.
The SCO is the successor of the Shanghai Five formed in 1996 between China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Russia and Tajikstan. On June 15 in 2001, leaders of these nations and Uzbekistan met in Shanghai to announce a new organisation with deeper political and economic cooperation. The SCO charter was signed on July 7, 2002 and came into effect on September 19, 2003. India and Pakistan joined on June 9, 2017.
First visit by a Pak minister in 12 years
Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s is the first visit by a Pakistani foreign minister after a gap of 12 years. India will host a cultural event and a dinner on today evening for his counterparts from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. During the evening, Jaishankar will get to meet Bilawal in person.