New Delhi: Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will be leading the Pakistan delegation to the Shanghai Cooperation Council of Foreign Ministers being held on May 4 and 5 in Goa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan stated. Bilawal Bhutto's visit to India will mark the first visit by any high-ranking Pakistani leader to visit India after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit in 2014.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan had earlier in January confirmed that India had extended the invitation to Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers meeting. During a weekly media briefing, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch had said, "India is holding the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State for the year 2022-2023. Every year, SCO develops a calendar of activities, which includes the meeting of the Foreign Ministers."
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Mumtaz Zahra Baloch indicated that "in that capacity, the chair extends an invitation to all member states." About whether Pakistan would be attending the Foreign Minister's meet, she said that these invitations are being processed as per standard procedures and a decision will be taken in due course. SCO is an important transregional organisation that aims at strengthening economic linkages and cooperation among its member states in different fields, she added.
Zardari has not been a favourite for the present Indian dispensation. Earlier, in a reply to India's barb mentioning Pakistan as a 'country harboring Osama Bin Laden,' the Pakistan Foreign Minister said while Laden is now dead, the 'Butcher of Gujarat' is living.
"Laden is dead, but the Butcher of Gujarat lives. And he is the Prime Minister of India. He was banned from entering US before he became the Prime Minister. He is the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha). What is the RSS? It draws inspiration from Hitler's SS," he said. The External Affairs Ministry hit back at his comments terming it 'uncivilized' and 'a new low, even for Pakistan'.
