Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was welcomed by Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa on Friday, though both sides have made it clear there will be no bilateral talks between them.
Bhutto-Zardari reached the Indian city on Thursday to attend the two-day moot and participated in a dinner for all visiting dignitaries hosted by Jaishankar. On Friday, official engagements began, with the formal meeting, which would be followed by the release of a “decision document” and a working lunch. The event would conclude with the signing of a memorandum with new Dialogue Partners. The event is also expected to feature various bilateral meetings between the dignitaries.
On Thursday, the foreign minister met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, with the Foreign Office saying they had discussed bilateral, regional and international matters of mutual interest. It said Bhutto-Zardari had assured Lavrov that Islamabad would continue to work closely with Moscow to further deeper their cooperation in food security, energy and people-to-people contacts.
The first Pakistani foreign minister to visit India in 12 years, Bhutto-Zardari told media upon his arrival that he was “very happy” to be leading Pakistan’s delegation. Hoping for the SCO meeting to be “very successful,” he reiterated that he had decided to attend the summit to stress Pakistan’s commitment to the SCO charter.