All eyes will be on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers’ meeting on Thursday and Friday in Goa where Foreign Ministers of China, Pakistan, Russia and other SCO countries will deliberate on various issues concerning the region. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will chair the conclave.
Given the growing ties between China and Pakistan, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will travel to Islamabad immediately after the conclusion of the SCO meet on May five. He will hold strategic talks with the country’s top officials there and is expected to attend a trilateral meeting involving Afghanistan.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will lead his country’s delegation for the SCO conclave. It will be the first visit by a Pakistani minister since 2014 when then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
The spotlight on Thursday will be on whether Jaishankar and Bhutto Zardari hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the SCO meet. Jaishankar is likely to hold bilateral meetings with all other Foreign Ministers of the SCO, including China.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang arrived in Goa amid continuing tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh and little forward movement to disengage troops from there in an effort to restore normalcy. Chinese Defence Minister General Li Shangfu was in New Delhi last week to attend the SCO Defence Ministers’ meet. He had a 45-minute bilateral meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
In July, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is likely to attend the SCO summit in New Delhi chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin too are likely to be present here during the high-profile event.
The Chinese President along with US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and others will arrive in New Delhi in September for the G-20 summit to be chaired by Prime Minister Modi.
Meanwhile, besides Bilawal Bhutto and Qin Gang, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will also take part in the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
The overall situation in Afghanistan, including apprehensions that the country may turn into a breeding ground for terrorism under the Taliban rule as well as the fast evolving regional security situation are expected to figure prominently during the deliberations.
India is emerging as a key player among the SCO countries though China and Russia are seen as the major drivers of the grouping that is increasingly seen as an “alternative” to NATO.
In a way, New Delhi has been uniquely placed in the SCO as it is also a member of the four-nation coalition Quad. The other members of the Quad are the US, Japan and Australia. Both Russia and China have been severely critical of the Quad.
Ways to expand overall cooperation including in areas of trade, investment and connectivity will figure prominently in the discussions, sources said here on Wednesday. Challenges of terrorism as well as dealing with implications of the war in Ukraine will also be discussed.
The SCO foreign ministers will deliberate on overall challenges facing the region in the backdrop of the current geo-political turmoil and the state of bilateral ties between the member nations would not impact the discussions.
On the sideline of the conclave, the external affairs minister is expected to hold separate bilateral talks with his counterparts from Russia, China and a few other member nations, people familiar with the matter said.
While the visiting dignitaries will be welcomed at a gala reception on May 4, the crucial deliberations on various key challenges facing the member nations of the grouping will be held on May 5, sources said.
The ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after India’s warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot in Pakistan in February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack.
The relations further deteriorated after India in August 2019 announced withdrawing special powers of Jammu & Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories.
The SCO is an influential economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.