New Delhi: Ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers' meeting scheduled to take place on May 5 (Friday), External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar arrived in Goa on Wednesday to review the preparation of the meeting under India’s presidency. The EAM will hold bilateral talks with Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in Goa on Thursday, ahead of the SCO meeting.
The meeting between Indian and Chinese foreign ministers is expected to focus on the resolution of the boundary issue. However, no details have been given by either side regarding the agenda of the meeting. This will be the second visit by both the Chinese and Russian foreign ministers to India this year. Both leaders visited India earlier this year for the G20 foreign ministers meeting.
Commenting on the significance of the meeting, former diplomat Ashok Sajjanhar said, “The meeting between Jaishankar and Chinese FM Qin Gang will take place, after all, we are having contacts with the Chinese government. In the past also, at the ministerial level, our leaders have met. But frankly, I do not foresee any forward movement in terms of the resolution of the LAC during the bilateral meeting tomorrow. Both sides will repeat their position”.
The relationship between India and China has been at an all-time low after the deadly skirmish between the two troops in the Ladakh region led to the loss of Indian soldiers as well as an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers. The ties between the two South Asian giants took an ugly turn after China’s repetitive attempt to claim the state of Arunachal Pradesh as its territory.
Meanwhile, the bilateral talks between EAM Jaishankar and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday are expected to focus on the growing bilateral trade between the two nations and the current geopolitical turmoil in the context of the Russian-Ukraine war. The Russian foreign minister’s visit is the third high-level visit from Russia in the last three weeks after the visit of Russian Deputy PM Denis Manturov and the Russian defence minister.
The bilateral talks between India and Pakistan's foreign ministers have not been confirmed yet. Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto will be in Goa for the SCO foreign ministers meeting. This will be the first-ever visit of a Pakistan foreign minister to India in a decade. The visit is also a first from Pakistan after India abrogated Article 370. The visit by the Pakistan FM is seen as a crucial one as the ties between India and Pakistan have seen a steep fall, especially after the Pulwama terror attack. However, the resumption of talks between both countries is the biggest question mark for the international community now.
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Further, former diplomat Sajjanhar said that the visit of Pakistan’s foreign minister is purely in the SCO context and not in the bilateral context. “He is not coming here at the invitation of the EAM for a bilateral visit but basically to participate in the SCO meeting. So far, it thus appears that there is going to be no bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan because usually it is the visiting dignitary who puts on a request for a call or a meet with with the host country but I understand that has not been done. Even as far as India is concerned, we are also not keen on bilateral talks with Pakistan," he added.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization established in 2001. The SCO membership includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan besides India. This is the first time India has taken over the presidency of the grouping since becoming a member in 2017. New Delhi will host the SCO summit in July.
