The recent visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Pakistan to attend the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government marked a significant shift in the Indo-Pak relations. Even though he was in Islamabad for the SCO meeting and did not indulge in any bilateral meeting, this visit – the first by an Indian foreign minister in nine years – was significant. The visit did not yield any important outcome but also did not cause any damage to the relation between the two neighbours. India’s was a dignified presence, where Jaishankar outlined what New Delhi expects of the Eurasian bloc and how it has not measured up to the SCO Charter, especially in terms of its original objectives of combating terrorism and separatism.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang in his address highlighted the need to strengthen joint actions to fight terror. The Indian side also got across its point regarding the need to safeguard sovereignty and territorial integrity, something that needs to be seen in the context of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had held up as a project for establishing a SCO connectivity framework. One can only hope that this visit by the external affairs minister will lead to positivity and hopefully kick-start dialogue between India and Pakistan.