India confirms SCO invite for PM
Foreign minister S Jaishankar said Friday the era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan was over, emphasizing India’s policy of not engaging Pakistan till the time it takes sustained and irreversible action against terrorism. Interestingly, Jaishankar also said India is not passive on the Pakistan issue and will react accordingly to positive and negative developments in the relationship.
The MEA officially confirmed Friday Pakistan had invited PM Narendra Modi for the SCO heads of government meeting in Islamabad in October.This is the first invite for Modi to visit Pakistan since Islamabad’s abortive bid to host the SAARC summit in 2016.
With the PM restricting his participation to the SCO heads of state summit, it remains to be seen if there’ll be a high-level representation from India. Jaishankar had participated in the last meeting in Kyrgyzstan.
“The era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is over. Actions have consequences. Insofar as J&K is concerned, 370 is done,” said the minister, speaking at a book release. On whether India is content with the current level of relationship, the minister added, “maybe yes, maybe no…we are not passive. And whether events take a positive or a negative direction, either way we will react”.
While India is expected to attend the SCO meeting, the level of participation is not clear yet. ToI had first reported on August 25 that Pakistan had invited Modi.
“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,” said the MEA spokesperson.
The practice so far, as far as India is concerned, has been for Modi to participate in the heads of state summit and depute senior ministers, mostly external affairs, for the heads of government meeting. Jaishankar had represented India at the last heads of government meeting in Bishkek in 2023. Pakistan is hosting the event this time as it holds the rotating chairmanship of the council of the heads of government.
The last time an Indian foreign minister visited Pakistan was in 2015. The visit, however, was followed by the Pathankot airbase attack that put paid to any hope of a revival of the dialogue process between the 2 countries.
The recent terror attacks in Jammu may also restrain India from considering a high-level participation, even though it sees SCO as playing an important role for regional security. The SAARC summit process has also remained stalled for the past 8 years as Modi doesn’t want to visit Islamabad, which has to host the meeting, because of Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism.
Foreign minister S Jaishankar said Friday the era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan was over, emphasizing India’s policy of not engaging Pakistan till the time it takes sustained and irreversible action against terrorism. Interestingly, Jaishankar also said India is not passive on the Pakistan issue and will react accordingly to positive and negative developments in the relationship.
The MEA officially confirmed Friday Pakistan had invited PM Narendra Modi for the SCO heads of government meeting in Islamabad in October.This is the first invite for Modi to visit Pakistan since Islamabad’s abortive bid to host the SAARC summit in 2016.
With the PM restricting his participation to the SCO heads of state summit, it remains to be seen if there’ll be a high-level representation from India. Jaishankar had participated in the last meeting in Kyrgyzstan.
“The era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is over. Actions have consequences. Insofar as J&K is concerned, 370 is done,” said the minister, speaking at a book release. On whether India is content with the current level of relationship, the minister added, “maybe yes, maybe no…we are not passive. And whether events take a positive or a negative direction, either way we will react”.
While India is expected to attend the SCO meeting, the level of participation is not clear yet. ToI had first reported on August 25 that Pakistan had invited Modi.
“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,” said the MEA spokesperson.
The practice so far, as far as India is concerned, has been for Modi to participate in the heads of state summit and depute senior ministers, mostly external affairs, for the heads of government meeting. Jaishankar had represented India at the last heads of government meeting in Bishkek in 2023. Pakistan is hosting the event this time as it holds the rotating chairmanship of the council of the heads of government.
The last time an Indian foreign minister visited Pakistan was in 2015. The visit, however, was followed by the Pathankot airbase attack that put paid to any hope of a revival of the dialogue process between the 2 countries.
The recent terror attacks in Jammu may also restrain India from considering a high-level participation, even though it sees SCO as playing an important role for regional security. The SAARC summit process has also remained stalled for the past 8 years as Modi doesn’t want to visit Islamabad, which has to host the meeting, because of Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism.
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