The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council meeting in India that Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attended was a reflection of Islamabad's commitment to the SCO charter and should not be interpreted in terms of bilateral relations.
The minister said that he would represent Pakistan in the upcoming Goa meeting of foreign ministers. On a programme that aired on Thursday on Dunya News, he was responding to a query.
Bhutto-Zardari will lead the Pakistani delegation to the SCO Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting, which is slated to take place in Goa on May 4-5, said the foreign ministry of Pakistan. "We are committed to the SCO charter, and this visit should not be seen as a bilateral one but in the context of the SCO," Bhutto Zardari said.
Bhutto-Zardari is attending the SCO-CFM meeting at S Jaishankar's invitation, said Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, who made the announcement during the weekly news briefing on Thursday. As per reports, Pakistan's attendance at the summit is evidence of its ongoing support for the SCO charter and process as well as the significance it places on the region among its top foreign policy priorities.
Bilawal will be the first foreign minister to visit India in almost 12 years. In 2011, Hina Rabbani Khar, who was then Pakistan's foreign minister, reached India.
All SCO members, including Pakistan and China, have received official invitations from India to the next conference of foreign ministers.
The Pakistani foreign minister will visit India at the highest official level in seven years