Indian FM rules out bilateral talks during SCO Summit in Pakistan

Hopes for diplomatic breakthrough dashed arsenic salient Kashmir person urges India and Pakistan to ‘break the crystal and prosecute constructively’.

India’s overseas curate has ruled retired discussing bilateral relations with rival Pakistan arsenic helium is scheduled to embark connected his archetypal travel to the neighbouring state successful astir a decennary to be the 2024 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told reporters connected Saturday that helium expects “a batch of media interest” successful the anticipation of speaking to his Pakistani counterpart astatine the two-day acme astir the 2 countries’ relations, which stay successful a heavy frost since a deadly equipped attack successful Indian-administered Kashmir successful 2019.

“But I bash privation to accidental it volition beryllium for a multilateral event. I americium not going determination to sermon India-Pakistan relations,” helium added.

“I americium going determination to beryllium a bully subordinate of the SCO, but since I americium a courteous and civilian person, I volition behave myself accordingly.”

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs confirmed connected Friday that Jaishankar would be the acme from October 15 to 16, which India chaired past year, but did not accidental if helium would conscionable immoderate Pakistani leaders connected the sidelines.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has urged India and Pakistan ‘to interruption the crystal and prosecute constructively’ [File: Dar Yasin/AP Photo]

Earlier this year, the overseas curate said India would privation to find “a solution to the contented of years-old cross-border terrorism”, adding it cannot beryllium the “policy of a bully neighbour”.

India has accused Pakistan of backing equipped rebels successful Kashmir – a complaint Islamabad has denied. Pakistan has insisted it lone provides governmental and motivation backing to what it calls Kashmir’s “freedom fighters”.

Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic relations with India and suspended bilateral commercialized aft Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped the constricted autonomy granted to Kashmir successful August 2019 arsenic portion of his purpose to integrate the disputed portion into India. India and Pakistan some assertion Kashmir successful its entirety, but person governed lone parts of it since independency from British assemblage rule.

‘Opportunity to interruption the ice’

Meanwhile, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), said connected Saturday that India and Pakistan person “a existent opportunity” astatine the SCO acme “to interruption the crystal and prosecute constructively”.

“Despite accrued challenges, the resoluteness for peaceful solution of struggle remains stronger than ever. Generations of Kashmiris person been consumed by the uncertainty. We privation an extremity to it, a just closure,” Farooq said successful his first station connected X successful 5 years.

Farooq has been nether location apprehension for astir of the past 5 years on with galore different pro-freedom Kashmiri leaders. The APHC campaigns for either the region’s merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan oregon the instauration of an autarkic federation retired of the Himalayan territory.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Uzbekistani Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev, and Tajikistan’s Foreign Minister Sirodjidin Aslov, airs for a radical photograph anterior to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) assembly of overseas ministers’ gathering successful Goa, India connected May 5, 2023 [Indian Foreign Ministry via AP]

The SCO is simply a radical of 10 countries, including India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, established by Russia and China to deepen ties with Central Asian states.

Michael Kugelman, manager of the South Asia Institute astatine the Washington-based Wilson Center, told the French quality bureau AFP that India’s determination to be the gathering successful Pakistan was “undoubtedly motivated” much by its SCO committedness “[than] to a tendency to determination the needle guardant connected relations with Pakistan”.

In 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a astonishment sojourn to Pakistan, prompting hopes that relations could improve.

However, the other happened successful 2019 aft Modi removed the law guarantees fixed to Kashmir and downgraded the portion to a federally tally territory. Kashmiris person said the determination denied them their antiauthoritarian rights to elite their ain representatives.

Elections for the authorities assembly concluded earlier this week, but analysts said the caller assembly volition person small powerfulness arsenic the New Delhi-appointed lieutenant politician calls each the shots.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies