No meeting sought with Modi: FM Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto dismissed rumors surrounding his trip to India and made it clear that they should not be “misconstrued in terms of bilateral ties” between the two neighbors. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed last week that Bilawal would travel to India for the first time in almost ten years to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Goa.

Three wars have been fought between the nuclear-armed neighbors, and relations have been tense for years. Speaking to the media, Bilawal claimed that he had not requested a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India is hosting an SCO meeting from May 4 to 5 in Goa. The SCO is an eight-member political and security bloc that includes Russia and China. “We are committed to the SCO charter and this visit should not be seen as a bilateral one but in the context of SCO. Our participation at the meeting reflects Pakistan’s continued commitment to the SCO charter and process and the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities,” Bilawal was quoted as saying. He said that they cannot let India to further isolate Pakistan. According to state-run radio sources, no request for any bilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India has been made on this occasion. It will be the first visit to India by a top Pakistani official since then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in in 2014.