‘Terrorism and trade not possible together’- External Affairs Minister Jaishankar in SCO meeting

Islamabad| Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, in gestures at the 23rd meeting of the SCO Council, reprimanded Pakistan and said that trade along with terrorism is unlikely. He said that terrorism, extremism and separatism are the ‘three evils’, which if not resolved will not be able to benefit from cooperation and integration. “If activities like cross-border terrorism, extremism and separatism take place, these are unlikely to boost trade, energy flows, connectivity and people-to-people contacts”, Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar explained the importance of Pakistan being a ‘good neighbor’ through gestures. “If there is a lack of trust or cooperation is insufficient, if there is a decrease in friendship and the feeling of being a good neighbor is missing somewhere, then there is definitely a need to introspect and find solutions to these problems”, he said.

Highlighting the challenges before the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the External Affairs Minister said, “It aims to strengthen mutual trust, friendship and good neighborly relations, develop multidimensional cooperation, especially cooperation of regional nature.”

Jaishankar said the organization aims to become a positive force in terms of balanced development, integration and conflict prevention. “It is also clear in the Charter what the main challenges are”, he said. These are mainly three, which the SCO is committed to combating, these are – terrorism; separatism; extremism.” Earlier, Jaishankar took a morning walk at the Indian High Commission campus in Pakistan and planted a sapling promoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Ek Pree Maa Ke Naam’ campaign.

“Mornings walk in our High Commission Campus with colleagues from the Indian High Commission team in Pakistan”, the foreign minister wrote on X. In another post he wrote, ‘Another commitment to Arjun’s Plant #Plant for Mother on campus. #A_Ped_Maa_K_Naam’. The foreign minister is in Islamabad to attend the 23rd meeting of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) Council of Heads of Government (CHG).

This is the first visit of an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan in 9 years. Former External Affairs Minister Late Sushma Swaraj visited Islamabad in 2015 to attend a security conference on Afghanistan. On Tuesday afternoon, the Indian delegation led by External Affairs Minister Jaishankar reached Noor Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi.