Pakistan's Bilawal Bhutto Zardari To Visit India In May, First Foreign Minister Visit Since 2011

Pakistan announced on Thursday that its Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will visit India next month to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) foreign ministers' meeting in Goa.

"Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will be leading the Pakistan delegation to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) being held on May 4-5, 2023, in Goa, India," Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahrah Baloch announced in a weekly media briefing.

"Our participation in the meeting reflects Pakistan's commitment to the SCO Charter and processes and the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities," the official said.

Mr Zardari's visit to India will be the first visit by any Pakistani Foreign Minister since Hina Rabbani Khar in 2011. 

India, which currently holds the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) presidency, sent the invitation to SCO members including the new Foreign Minister of China Qin Gang and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in January.

"We hold the current presidency of SCO. As customary, we extend invites to all SCO countries including Pakistan. We expect them all to attend the events," the Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi during a press briefing in February.

Ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after the 2019 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama by Pakistan-backed terrorists and the surgical strikes by India on terrorist training camps in Pakistan's Balakot in response.

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Pakistan FM Bilawal Bhutto rules out ‘bilateral ties’ between India and Pakistan during SCO meet in Goa | Mint

Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's participation in a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council in India reflected Islamabad's commitment to the charter of the SCO and should not be seen in terms of bilateral ties. 

The minister said that he would represent Pakistan at the Foreign Ministers meeting to be held in Goa next month. He was responding to a question on a program on Dunya News aired on Thursday. 

"We are committed to the SCO charter and this visit should not be seen as a bilateral one but in the context of the SCO," Bhutto Zardari said as quoted by news agency ANI. 

Pakistan's foreign ministry also said that Bhutto-Zardari will lead the Pakistani delegation to the meeting of SCO foreign ministers (CFM) scheduled to be held on May 4-5 in Goa.

During a weekly press briefing on Thursday, Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch stated that Bhutto-Zardari is attending the SCO-CFM meeting at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

The spokesperson said the country's participation at the meeting reflects Pakistan's continued commitment to the SCO charter and process along with the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities. 

Bilawal will be the first foreign minister to visit India after a gap of nearly 12 years, reported Business Recorder. In 2011, then Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited India, ANI reported. 

India has formally sent invitations to all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) including Pakistan and China for the upcoming foreign ministers' meeting.

India took over the chairmanship of the 9-member mega grouping in September last year and will be holding key ministerial meetings and the summit this year.

The relations between the two countries have been precarious for many years with regard to issues of cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, even as Islamabad has been seeking the restoration of Article 370 for the former Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir for any talks.

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