New Delhi: In what may be the first step towards normalization of ties between the two South Asian neighbors, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has decided to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in India next month.
This was announced at the briefing of Foreign Office in Islamabad, where the spokesperson of the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Mumtaz Zahra Baloch formally announced that Bilawal will be traveling to Goa from May 4-5th to participate in the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
She said Bilawal will be attending the meeting at the invitation of India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. “Our participation in the meeting reflects Pakistan’s commitment to the SCO Charter and processes and the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities,” Baloch said.
The development comes at a time when diplomatic ties between the two nations were halted after the Balakot airstrikes in 2019. The visit also holds massive importance as Bilawal will be the first Foreign Minister to visit India after a gap of nearly 12 years.
The last Foreign Minister to visit India was Hina Rabbani Khar in July 2011.
