SCO Summit: A day after Pakistan confirmed that its Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in India, a war of words broke out within the cash-strapped nation, with the opposition calling it an “international conspiracy”. .
Fawad Chaudhry, a senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, criticized Bhutto’s much-anticipated visit in a social media post, claiming the government was acting on the dictates of an “international agenda”.
According to him, building “good relations” with the neighboring country was a “global agenda” and was imposed on the present government.
“Bilawal Bhutto’s visit to India is like backstabbing the struggle of Kashmiris. Burying the Kashmir issue and building ties with India is part of the international agenda under which this government was imposed on Pakistan.” Fawad.
Shockingly, the statement from Imran Khan’s party came despite the fact that the PTI chief had said that he wanted to build ties with New Delhi when he was prime minister.
didn’t expect
Significantly, ever since India sent an invitation to its neighbor for the crucial meeting to be held in Goa between May 4-5, it was speculated that Bhutto might attend the event in person. However, the recent spat between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Bhutto put an end to all speculations.
Furthermore, his subsequent remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Gujarat riots made it almost clear that he would not be traveling to New Delhi for the SCO summit.
However, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch confirmed Bhutto’s visit—a development that could provide an opportunity to break the ice between the two neighbours.
“Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will lead Pakistan’s delegation to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) to be held on May 4-5, 2023 in Goa, India,” Baloch said.
He said Pakistan’s foreign minister would attend the meeting as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had invited him to attend the SCO meeting. “Our participation in the meeting reflects Pakistan’s commitment to the SCO charter and procedures and the importance Pakistan attaches to the region in its foreign policy priorities,” Baloch said.
Highest level of travel in last decade
This would be the highest-level visit to India by any Pakistani leader in recent years and a potential opportunity to break the ice between the two countries.
Relations between India and Pakistan were severely strained after India’s warplanes blew up a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot in February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack.
Relations deteriorated further in August 2019 after India announced the withdrawal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special powers and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into union territories.
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