MEA Jaishankar to reach Pakistan today

New Delhi, Oct 14: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is slated to make a brief visit to Pakistan, his first trip to the country in nearly a decade and reach Pakistan on Tuesday afternoon.

Jaishankar is expected to stay in Islamabad for less than 24 hours, strictly for the SCO proceedings, with no plans for bilateral discussions with his Pakistani counterpart.

Jaishankar’s itinerary reflects the cautious nature of this visit.

He is expected to arrive just ahead of the summit’s welcome dinner on October 15, attend the formal meetings the following day, and depart shortly thereafter.

Jaishankar has been clear in stating that his participation is limited to multilateral discussions, firmly ruling out any engagement on the contentious bilateral issues that have long strained relations between India and Pakistan.

Tensions have remained high since India’s 2019 airstrikes on Pakistan following the Pulwama attack and the subsequent revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status by New Delhi.

Several Indian journalists are visiting Pakistan to attend the event.

Jaishankar’s decision to attend, despite the frosty ties, highlights India’s commitment to multilateral organisations like the SCO framework.

However, with both countries ruling out bilateral discussions, the summit is unlikely to ease the long-standing tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

It also signals that for now, the deep divisions between India and Pakistan are unlikely to be bridged through multilateral diplomacy alone.