ISLAMABAD: Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is set to visit Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting, scheduled for October 15-16.

“The external affairs minister will lead our delegation to Pakistan to participate in the SCO summit, which will be held in Islamabad on 15 and 16 October,” stated Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry.

This marks the first visit of an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan in nearly a decade.

Pakistan had invited leaders from all SCO member states, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to attend the meeting in Islamabad, confirmed Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Office.

“Islamabad has already received several confirmations for the summit set for October 15-16,” Baloch said during a press briefing.

In May of the previous year, Pakistan’s then-foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, visited India to participate in the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting. That visit was the first by a top Pakistani official since then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended Indian Prime Minister Modi’s inauguration in 2014.

Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic ties with India after the Indian government, led by Modi, revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019. Islamabad believes this move hampered the possibility of bilateral talks and has since linked the normalization of ties with the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.

Despite strained relations, both nations renewed their 2003 ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control (LoC) in February 2021.

SCO Summit In July, Mumtaz Baloch provided further information on the upcoming SCO summit, noting that the event would include ministerial discussions and meetings focused on promoting cooperation in finance, economics, culture, and humanitarian efforts among the member states.

The Pakistani government has approved extensive security measures for the event, according to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, with additional personnel from the Pakistan Army, Rangers, Frontier Corps (FC), and Punjab police to be deployed.

The SCO, which includes India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, is an important platform for regional security and cooperation, especially in Central Asia.

India sees the SCO as a valuable forum for engaging with these countries, although it remains cautious of China’s growing influence in the organization. Notably, India has consistently refrained from endorsing China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a key point of contention in SCO joint declarations.