Express News Service
NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar is attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Tashkent on Friday where he will have bilateral talks with the other members. However, it is unlikely for him to have any such talks with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto.
“Diplomatic relations with Pakistan have been downgraded at the moment after Bilawal Bhutto’s statements in support of Yasin Malik and other Kashmiri separatists. Therefor, it unlikely for Dr Jaishankar to have any bilateral talks with him,” say sources.
However, there is every possibility of the foreign minister holding talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. Iran is joining as the ninth member of SCO and Dr Jaishankar is likely to have talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
It may be recalled that during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held last month in Kigali (Rwanda), Dr Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar didn’t pose for any photos nor did they shake hands.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has decided to call back its chess team from India (who had come to take part in the Chess Olympiad in Chennai). They had objected to India taking the torch for the event in Srinagar.
“Jammu and Kashmir (including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) and Ladakh are an integral part of India. So we are free to do what we want over there. No country should have any reason to object. It is unfortunate that Pakistan is politicizing a sporting event – especially after they have sent in their team,” said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
More recently India was miffed and vehemently opposed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s suggestion of including a third country in their projects. CPEC has some projects coming up in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK) and India has criticized this. “Any activities undertaken in the POK will be against our territorial integrity. We reject the idea of any third country being a part of it,” says MEA.
NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar is attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Tashkent on Friday where he will have bilateral talks with the other members. However, it is unlikely for him to have any such talks with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto.
“Diplomatic relations with Pakistan have been downgraded at the moment after Bilawal Bhutto’s statements in support of Yasin Malik and other Kashmiri separatists. Therefor, it unlikely for Dr Jaishankar to have any bilateral talks with him,” say sources.
However, there is every possibility of the foreign minister holding talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. Iran is joining as the ninth member of SCO and Dr Jaishankar is likely to have talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
It may be recalled that during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held last month in Kigali (Rwanda), Dr Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar didn’t pose for any photos nor did they shake hands.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has decided to call back its chess team from India (who had come to take part in the Chess Olympiad in Chennai). They had objected to India taking the torch for the event in Srinagar.
“Jammu and Kashmir (including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) and Ladakh are an integral part of India. So we are free to do what we want over there. No country should have any reason to object. It is unfortunate that Pakistan is politicizing a sporting event – especially after they have sent in their team,” said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
More recently India was miffed and vehemently opposed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s suggestion of including a third country in their projects. CPEC has some projects coming up in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK) and India has criticized this. “Any activities undertaken in the POK will be against our territorial integrity. We reject the idea of any third country being a part of it,” says MEA.
