NEW DELHI: The much awaited Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers' meeting kickstarted in Goa on Thursday with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar holding bilateral meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
No bilateral took place between Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari – even though the latter talked about meeting his counterparts over dinner where both he and Jaishankar would have come face to face.
"My decision to attend the meeting illustrates Pakistan’s strong commitment to the charter of the SCO. My visit will be focused exclusively on the SCO and I will have discussions with my counterparts from friendly countries," Bilawal said before heading to Goa. It has been 12 years since the last visit by a Pakistan Foreign Minister to India.
On landing in Goa, Bilawal was received at the airport by Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran) JP Singh. Singh has also served as India’s Ambassador to Pakistan in the past.
Bilawal said that he was happy to be in Goa with his delegation from Pakistan. He met Lavrov and the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan and said he would look forward to meeting the others over dinner.
Interestingly, the bilateral meeting between Bilawal and Lavrov came ahead of Pakistan importing its first consignment of crude oil from Russia. The consignment is expected to reach Karachi within a week from now.
Meanwhile, even though no bilaterals took place between India and Pakistan, Jaishankar held talks with his counterparts from Russia, China and Uzbekistan.
"We did a comprehensive review of our bilateral, global and multilateral cooperation with Sergey Lavrov. Appreciated Russia’s support for India’s SCO Presidency. Also discussed issues pertaining to G20 and BRICS," said Jaishankar.
Earlier, Jaishankar's first meeting in Goa was with SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming. "The Indian Presidency is driven by a commitment to secure the SCO. Its key focus areas are startups, traditional medicine, youth empowerment, Buddhist heritage and science and technology," Jaishankar said.
Speaking on his meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, Jaishankar said, "We had a detailed discussion with state councillor and FM Qin Gang of China. The focus remains on resolving outstanding issues and ensuring peace and tranquility in the border areas. We also discussed SCO, G20 and BRICS."
In Jaishankar's third bilateral meeting with his counterpart from Uzbekistan, the duo spoke about mutual cooperation.