PANAJI
The conclave of foreign ministers of Shangai Cooperation Organization (SCO), touted as a counter to NATO, being hosted in Goa took off with the official dinner on Thursday evening at a South Goa starred hotel.
But more than the SCO conclave per-se, the event has gained media attention for the physical presence of Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and a round of bilateral talks on its sidelines between the foreign ministers of China and India “ Quin Gang and S Jaishankar.
Gang and Jaishankar, who are respectively the secretary general and president of SCO, are said to have had a fairly long one-on-one meeting.
The tete-a-tete is said to have lasted for as long as an hour and gains significance in the face of heightened tensions between the two neighbouring nations over recurring military stand-offs and skirmishes between the soldiers of the two countries at the LAC and at multiple geographical locations in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh.
There was however no official communication either from the Indian side or the Chinese side over the nature of the talks. The meeting was only summed up in a single tweet by Jaishankar thus: “A detailed discussion with State Councillor and FM Quin Gang of China on our bilateral relationship. Focus remains on resolving outstanding issues and ensuring peace and tranquility in the border areas.”
Jaishankar also said on Twitter that SCO, G20 and BRICS issues were also discussed.
Jaishankar, meanwhile, also held similar bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov but again there was no communication on what was discussed.
Russia is a major military supplier to India and the country has been facing
concerns over transactions due to global sanctions imposed on Russia over its occupation and aggression in Ukraine. There was however no reference to the military supplies hiccup in Jaishankar’s tweet summarising his discussion with Lavrov.
“Comprehensive review of our bilateral, global and multilateral cooperation with FM Sergey Lavrov of Russia. Appreciated Russia’s support for India’s SCO presidency. Also discussed issues pertaining to G20 and BRICS,” Jaishankar’s tweet said.
Meanwhile apart from Gang and Lavrov, several other foreign ministers and Ambassadors, including Bhutto-Zardari arrived early Thursday to participate in the two-day conclave.
Zardari’s physical participation in the conference has evoked immense interest in media and diplomatic circles particularly because in the Defence Ministers’ SCO conclave held earlier, the Pakistani minister had only participated virtually.
“I am very happy to participate and lead the Pakistani delegation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and I expect the meeting to be a success,” was a guarded statement made on arrival in Goa by Zardari, who is the first Pakistani foreign minister to land on Indian soil in twelve years.
There is no word, however, if Jaishankar will also have similar one-on-one meeting and talks with Bhutto-Zardari, which many speculate is unlikely.
