As he concluded his brief visit to Pakistan on the occasion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting in Islamabad, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Wednesday thanked Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar for the "hospitality and courtesies" extended to him during his nearly 24-hour stay.
"Leaving Islamabad. Thank PM Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and the Government of Pakistan for the hospitality and courtesies," Jaishankar tweeted on X as he readied to leave on an Indian Air Force plane from Rawalpindi's Nur Khan airbase.
The last Indian External Affairs Minister to visit Pakistan was late Sushma Swaraj, who attended the Heart of Asia Conference in Islamabad in 2015.
In the speech, Jaishankar said India has made a "positive and constructive contribution" to the talks during the "fructile" SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting.
This was done through the signing of eight outcome documents, with various key highlights from India's perspective. These included an endorsement for dialogue on One Earth, One Family, One Future, and recognition of India's initiatives; including the SCO Startup Forum as well as the SWG on Startups and Innovation, focused on Traditional Medicine. The members also embraced digital public infrastructure (DPI) and digital inclusion in the SCO cooperation framework, inspired by Mission LiFE in working towards the achievement of the UNSDGs and furthering global food security through climate-resilient and nutritious grains such as millets.
They also agreed on the necessity to encourage the realization of equitable and balanced connectivity projects in accordance with international law and the goals and principles of the United Nations Charter and the SCO Charter. They also confirmed their support to an open, non-discriminatory, rules-based multilateral trading system under the auspices of the WTO, conducive to facilitating mutually beneficial trade and investment for the growth and development of developing countries, to counter protectionism, unilateral measures and trade barriers which seriously impede the achievement of global sustainable development.
In his speech, the EAM termed "terrorism, extremism, and separatism" the "three evils," but insisted that the fact that there is no trust and good neighbourly relations needs to reflect upon and act.
"If activities across borders are characterised by terrorism, extremism and separatism, they are hardly likely to encourage trade, energy flows, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges in parallel," Jaishankar said, without naming Pakistan.
Read also| EAM Jaishankar Flags Concerns Over Terrorism and Extremism at SCO Meet in Islamabad
Read also| EAM Jaishankar and Pak PM Sharif Shake Hands at SCO Reception
