External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Tuesday for a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. Notably, it’s the first time in nine years that a senior Indian minister has visited Pakistan. He was welcomed by Pakistani officials when he landed at Nur Khan airbase.
Ilyas Mehmood Nizami, the Director General for South Asia at Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, greeted Jaishankar as he landed at Nur Khan Airbase in Islamabad. The video from the welcome in viral on social media where Jaishankar is seen wear shades and walking with Nizami who looks nervous in from of him.
#WATCH | Islamabad: Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif welcomes EAM Dr S Jaishankar and other SCO Council Heads of Government, to a dinner hosted by him.
EAM is in Pakistan to participate in the 23rd Meeting of SCO Council of Heads of Government.
(Video: ANI; visuals earlier this… pic.twitter.com/dNA5N3hsQ0
— ANI (@ANI) October 15, 2024
Children in traditional outfits greeted him with bouquets of flowers, and a red carpet was rolled out for the guests. Jaishankar attended a dinner hosted for visiting dignitaries, where he exchanged words and shook hands with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He is set to participate in the SCO summit later. In an earlier post on X, S Jaishankar wrote, ‘Landed in Islamabad to take part in SCO Council of Heads of Government Meeting’.
S Jaishankar will attend the twenty-third meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (CHG) of the SCO, which Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will chair as the current chair of the Council.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar delivered a strong message at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Islamabad, emphasizing that cooperation in areas such as trade, energy and connectivity is unlikely to flourish if terrorism, extremism, and separatism characterize activities across borders.
Jaishankar led the Indian delegation at the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) summit, chaired by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He stressed that trust is key for cooperation and that SCO member countries can benefit immensely if they move ahead collectively.
His arrival on October 15 afternoon follows Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s visit to India last year for a similar SCO meeting, which made him the first senior Pakistani politician to visit India since 2011. Jaishankar’s last visit to Pakistan was in December 2015 when he accompanied then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference on Afghanistan.
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