Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Goa on May 4 and 5. Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch announced the decision of the Pakistani government on Thursday.
The visit of the Pakistani foreign minister to India will be the first such visit of any Pakistani leadership since the visit of Nawaz Sharif in 2014. The visit will break the deadlock as the relations between the two countries have been precarious for many years due to the cross-border terrorism from Pakistan. Pakistan has the unique distinction of hosting the greatest number of UNSC-designated terrorists and terror organizations. The worsening economic crisis in Pakistan is also fuelling the terror outfits.
The relations between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after the 2019 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama by Pakistan-backed terrorists. In response, India conducted surgical strikes on various terrorist training camps in Pakistan’s Balakot.
“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,” Baloch said.
The eight-member countries of SCO represent around 42% of the world population and 25% of the global GDP. The SCO currently comprises eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), four Observer States interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia) and six “Dialogue Partners” (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey).
India has assumed the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) Chairship for 2023.
It is important to note that the SCO is a transregional organization that aims to strengthen economic linkages and cooperation among its Member States in different fields. Every year, SCO develops a calendar of activities, which includes the meeting of the foreign ministers. As per the SCO charter, bilateral issues are not discussed among the members. This makes it imperative for the members to rise above the bilateral conflicts –that remains true for India and Pakistan.
India and SCO
India has maintained an active engagement with the organization since it became a full-fledged Member State in 2017. In 2020, India hosted for the first time, the meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, the second-highest decision-making body of the organization. Under the Chairmanship, India has proposed three new pillars of cooperation in SCO – Startups & Innovation, Science & Technology and Traditional Medicine.
On 29 March, India chaired the 18th Meeting of Security Council Secretaries of SCO Member States in New Delhi. The agenda included security and stability issues in the SCO region and cooperation between SCO member states in countering terrorism, extremism, separatism, the financing of terrorism, the use of new technologies for terrorist purposes, as well as radicalisation, illegal arms and drug trafficking and transnational organised crime.
Besides the security cooperation, ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states are responsible for foreign economic and foreign trade activities in areas of international trade– the revival, growth, and prosperity of regional economies. A solid and stable multilateral trading system is indispensable for stimulating trade and sustainable development in the SCO region.
“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.