EAM S Jaishankar did the morning walk with the team from the High Commission of India in Pakistan and planted a sapling furthering PM Modi's 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign on Wednesday. Sharing the moment, EAM Jaishankar posted on X: "A morning walk together with colleagues of Team High Commission of India in Pakistan in our High Commission campus.
He also planted an Arjuna sapling within the High Commission premises as part of 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign that encourages tree planting for mothers. External Affairs Minister arrived in Islamabad to participate in the 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, which started on Tuesday evening with a welcome dinner by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif. This is the first visit of an Indian External Affairs Minister to Pakistan since the late Sushma Swaraj had visited Islamabad for the Heart of Asia Conference in December 2015.
Indian delegation, led by EAM S Jaishankar on Tuesday afternoon landed at Rawalpindi's Nur Khan airbase. India has always maintained that better relations with Pakistan can happen only when the atmosphere is clear from terrorism and violence. Ahead of the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs stated, 'The SCO CHG meeting is held annually and focuses on the trade and economic agenda of the organisation. External Affairs Minister, Dr. 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.'"
It is going to begin on the second day with the welcome of visiting leaders by Shehbaz Sharif at Islamabad's Jinnah Convention Centre. The sessions, formal speeches, and opening remarks by Sharif and a group photo will be followed by multiple sessions of discussions and signing of various documents. Media addresses will be presented by Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming. A luncheon will conclude the meeting courtesy of the Pakistani Prime Minister.
Except EAM Jaishankar, participation by the high level representatives of all the SCO member states' people starting from the Prime Ministers of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are expected. In this meeting, the First Vice President of Iran and the Observer State Prime Minister from Mongolia, and the Foreign Minister from Turkmenistan as a Special Guest will attend.
They are expected to include not only discussions on all matters of economic cooperation, environmental issues, and socio-cultural linkages among the member states but also a review of the performance of SCO. A few important organisational decisions will be taken, and the budget for the organisation will be approved. Bilateral engagement between India and Pakistan is not scheduled on the sidelines of the summit. Arrival in Islamabad of EAM Jaishankar has, however, been an opportunity to relive the 'usual' hullabaloo by Pakistani political leaders.
Interestingly, PTI lawmaker Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif extended an invitation to his guest and invited EAM Jaishankar to attend a protest rally in the capital. "We would also invite Mr Jaishankar to address our anti-government protest and see for himself how strong Pakistan's democracy is," Saif said.
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