No Formal Meeting Between Pakistan and India at SCO, Confirms Foreign Office

Pakistan’s Foreign Office has clarified that no formal discussions took place between Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during last week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conclave. In a statement made during her weekly press briefing, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch emphasized that while it is customary for delegates in multilateral settings to engage in informal pleasantries and conversations, no official meeting occurred between the two foreign ministers.

Jaishankar, who made headlines as the first Indian foreign minister to visit Pakistan in nearly a decade, did engage in casual conversations with Dar on two occasions during the event. However, sources indicated that these interactions did not signify any significant improvement in the strained relations between the neighboring countries.

In her briefing, Baloch also noted that Pakistan has extended an agreement with India to facilitate the visit of Indian pilgrims to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Narowal through the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for an additional five years. She reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to providing political, diplomatic, and moral support to the Kashmiri people.

On another note, Baloch announced that Pakistan has applied for membership in the BRICS group, expressing hope that the bloc would consider the request in alignment with its commitment to inclusive multilateralism. However, she acknowledged that Pakistan was not invited to the recent BRICS summit held in Kazan, Russia. The BRICS group, which originally included Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has recently expanded its membership to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.