.Indian Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has landed in Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation. ….. …… Children dressed in traditional attire presented bouquets to the foreign dignitaries. A red carpet was rolled out to welcome the guests, underscoring the importance of the event, it added.
It is the first time in nearly nine years that India’s foreign minister has travelled to Pakistan. Ties between the two neighbours have remained frosty over the issue of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan. India has, on multiple occasions, clearly stated that “talks and terror cannot go hand-in-hand”, and Pakistan must “stop using terrorism as an instrument of state policy by harbouring and shielding terrorists.” The last Indian Foreign Minister to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj. She had travelled to Islamabad in December 2015 to attend a conference on Afghanistan.
“External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India at the meeting. India remains actively engaged in the SCO format, including various mechanisms and initiatives within the SCO framework,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a brief statement in New Delhi.
