Days ahead of Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zaradari’s visit to India, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, “It is very difficult to engage with a neighbour who unleashes cross-border terrorism against India.” Bilawal will take part in the two-day Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers’ meet in Goa on May 4 and 5.

Addressing a joint media briefing along with Panama Foreign Minister Janaina Tewaney Mencomo in Panama City late on Monday, Jaishankar said, “The bottom line on this issue is that it is very difficult for us to engage with a neighbour who practises cross-border terrorism against us.”

“We’ve always said they have to deliver on the commitment not to encourage, sponsor and carry out cross-border terrorism. We continue to hope that one day we will reach that stage,” he added.

Bilawal will the first Pakistan Minister to visit India since 2014 when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to New Delhi to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Given strained ties between the two countries, Bilawal last week said his visit to India next month should not be seen in terms of bilateral ties. The conclave will take place in Goa on May 4 and 5.

Zardari said his participation in the meeting in India reflected Islamabad’s commitment to the charter of the SCO and should not be seen in terms of bilateral ties.

“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,” Zardari said soon after his visit was announced by Pakistan Foreign office Thursday last week.

“It will not be appropriate to focus on a particular member,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said on Thursday on participation of Pakistan in SCO Foreign Ministers’ meet. He also said it is premature to say bilateral meeting between Zardari and Jaishankar may take place on the sidelines of the SCO conclave. Bilawal will be the first Minister to visit India after then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited New Delhi in 2014 for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi. In 2011, then Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited India.

In December 2015, then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Pakistan and days later, Modi made a brief visit to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, it would be the highest-level visit to India by any Pakistani leader in recent years and a possible opportunity to break the ice between the two nations.

The ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after India’s warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot in February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack.

The relations further deteriorated after India announced the withdrawal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special powers and the bifurcation of the erstwhile State into Union Territories in August 2019.

India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such an engagement.

As regards Jaishankar’s visit, he is on a two-day official tour to Panama. He arrived in Panama City on Monday and was received by Panama’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Vladimir Francos.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Jaishankar stated, “Arrived in Panama City. Thank Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs @VladimirFrancoS for the warm reception. Look forward to a packed bilateral and multilateral agenda.”

Jaishankar also attended the India-Latin America Business event and delivered a keynote address highlighting ten important reasons why the India-Panama business collaboration has strong prospects and merits-focused endeavours.

After his visit to Panama, the External Affairs Minister on Tuesday left for Colombia where he will be meeting several top representatives of the Government, business and civil society. His Colombia visit would be the first Foreign Ministerial level visit to the country, the Ministry of External Affairs said in its release.

Jaishankar and Colombia’s counterpart Alvaro Leyva Duran will review the bilateral ties. Following his visit to Colombia, Jaishankar will head to the Dominican Republic. The visit to the Dominican Republic is the highest-level visit from India since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1999.