New Delhi: Union External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar, who is presiding over the SCO meet in India, opened up about Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. While he mentioned treating Zardari as a diplomat, he called out Pakistan for its stand on terrorism. Jaishankar addressed the press and gave updates about his meetings with the diplomats.
S Jaishankar said that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was treated like a Foreign Minister of an SCO member state. He added that as a ‘promoter, justifier and spokesperson’ of terrorism, Zardari’s positions were called out at the SCO meeting.
He said that Zardari came to India as the Foreign Minister of an SCO member state and is part of multilateral diplomacy. Jaishankar mentioned that he does not see his arrival as anything special.
#WATCH | “As a Foreign Minister of an SCO member state, Mr Bhutto Zardari was treated accordingly. As a promoter, justifier and spokesperson of a terrorism industry which is the mainstay of Pakistan, his positions were called out and countered including at the SCO meeting… pic.twitter.com/9cLckxLML9
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2023
When asked about the India-Pakistan ties, the Indian minister said, “Victims of terrorism do not sit together with perpetrators of terrorism to discuss terrorism.” Jaishankar added that ‘victims of terrorism’ counter the terrorism. He called out the Pakistani journalist for preaching the hypocritical words and stated that India and Pakistan are not on the same boat.
After the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir today, he said that he feels outraged and taking a jibe, added Pakistan’s credibility on terrorism is depleting faster than even the nation’s Forex reserves.
#WATCH | EAM Dr S Jaishankar welcomes Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for the Meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Goa pic.twitter.com/TVe0gzml1U
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2023
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is the first Pakistani minister to visit India after former PM Nawaz Sharif’s visit in 2014.
On his bilateral meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, S Jaishankar said that they discussed several regional and global developments. He also had a bilateral meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, on the sidelines of the SCO Council meeting in Goa. Talking about the same, Jaishankar said that they had a ‘frank discussion’ about the border issue. He reiterated his stance and said that India-China relations cannot be ‘normal’ till peace is disturbed in the border areas.
#WATCH | EAM Dr S Jaishankar welcomes Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang for the Meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Goa pic.twitter.com/mOfx8dRlat
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2023
The Foreign Ministers talked about multilateral cooperation in SCO and addressed regional and global issues in the Goa meet. Admitting Iran and Belarus to SCO as new Member States was also dwelled upon by the diplomats.
