New Delhi: Even as India confirmed that Pakistan has invited India for the heads of government meeting of SCO, external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday (August 30) hedged on whether India would like to continue the current level of engagement with the South Asian state.
Speaking at a book launch function on Friday, he said, “Rajiv [Sikri] suggests [in his book] that perhaps India is content to continue at the current level of relationship. Maybe yes, maybe no… We are not passive. And whether events take a positive or a negative direction, either way, we will react to it”.
He had prefaced his response on Pakistan by noting that the “era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is over”, adding that “Article 370 is done”.
Noting that the issue was the kind of “relationship can we possibly contemplate with Pakistan”, he referred to the assessment of the author, a former Indian foreign service officer, but didn’t endorse it nor reject it.
Later in the day, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that India has received an invitation to attend the Heads of Government Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which is being hosted by Pakistan.
However, the MEA spokesperson indicated that no decision has been made yet regarding India’s participation. “Yes, India has received the invitation for attending the Heads of Government Summit of SCO hosted by Pakistan. As and when we have an update, we will share it with you,” the spokesperson said.
Relations between India and Pakistan have been at a standstill, with no official high-level contacts for several years.
However, as both India and Pakistan are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited Goa last year when India held the chairmanship of the SCO. The visit was marked by tension, culminating in a sharp exchange of words between Bilawal and Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
The SCO heads of state summit, however, was converted into a virtual event, thereby avoiding the need to invite Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to India.
Traditionally, the Indian Prime Minister has always attended the SCO’s annual heads of state summit. In the past, India has been represented at the SCO heads of government summit by a senior minister or the vice president. For instance, when India hosted the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting in November 2020, it was chaired by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.
