NEW DELHI – There will be no bilateral meetings between External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with theirPakistan counterparts at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)ministerial meets to be held here, official sources said.
“There will be no meetings with their Pakistan counterparts,” officialsources here told PTI, ruling out any planned meetings between the Indianand Pakistani ministers. Swaraj who arrived here on Saturday will take partin the foreign ministers meeting of the SCO to be held on April 24.
The same day Sitharaman will take part the SCO defence ministers meeting.The meetings, which are part of the preparations for the SCO summit to beheld in the Chinese city of Qingdao in June, have become prominent as theyare the first such meetings after India and Pakistan were admitted into theeight-member group last year. Both events are to be attended by therespective ministers from Pakistan.
A host of issues including that of regional security and counter terrorismare expected to figure in the meetings. Relations between India andPakistan turned frosty after the Pathankot terror attack in January, 2016and another strike by terrorists on an Army camp in Uri in Jammu andKashmir in September that year.
The SCO, in which China and Russia play an influential role, specialises inregional security, counter terrorism and related issues. The organisationconsists of China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan,Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunyingsaid yesterday that issues related to terrorism will be discussed at theSCO foreign ministers’ meeting.
“We believe it is a purpose of the SCO to promote relevant cooperation inthat field. Security has been a priority of the SCO since its inception,”she said and defended Pakistan after Prime Minister Modi termed it as“terror export factory” at an event in London recently. So the upcomingmeeting will see participants exchanging views on the relevant issues,along with major international and regional issues, Hua said.