 "From resuming talks to cricket, what did Jaishankar's Pakistan visit mean?")
Despite the absence of any formal bilateral meetings, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reportedly had "casual conversations" with both Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his counterpart Ishaq Dar during the past two days on the sidelines of the SCO heads of government summit in Islamabad.
Speaking to The Times of India, unnamed diplomatic sources confirmed that these informal exchanges took place. According to the report, there was some thaw, albeit nothing substantive yet, in the India-Pakistan relationship, which has been described as being in deep-freeze for years now.
Jaishankar recently visited Pakistan to participate in the 23rd Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government.
How does GOI view Jaishankar's Pakistan visit?
With no untoward incident occurring, the government reportedly viewed Jaishankar's visit, the first by an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan in nearly nine years, as a positive development.
After a 24-hour stay in Islamabad, Jaishankar departed from Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi. Prior to leaving, he expressed his gratitude to Shehbaz and Dar for their hospitality and courtesies in a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Jaishankar had previously mentioned that India would respond to both positive and negative developments with Pakistan accordingly.
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Citing unnamed government sources, the national daily said that the talks were described as casual conversations by the Indian side and by Pakistani officials as a brief pull-aside that lasted 5 to 7 minutes between Jaishankar and Dar during a dinner hosted by Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday evening.
The developments during Jaishankar's visit stand in sharp contrast to when Pakistan's then foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, had visited India in May 2023 to participate in the two-day meeting of the SCO's Council of Foreign Ministers. He was the first Pakistani foreign minister to visit India in nearly 12 years.
At that time, in a sharp rebuttal to remarks made by Bilawal, Jaishankar had referred to his Pakistani counterpart as a "promoter, justifier... and spokesperson of a terrorism industry, which is the mainstay of Pakistan". Jaishankar's remarks came after Bilawal had warned against "getting caught up in weaponising terrorism" or using it to gain diplomatic leverage.
Relations between the two countries have been frozen since the failed attempt to restart the dialogue process in 2015. The situation worsened after Pakistan recalled its high commissioner in August 2019 following India's decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special status.
Speaking to the national daily, government sources also commended Shehbaz for refraining from raising any bilateral issues in his remarks as the summit host.
Will Jaishankar's visit restore cricketing ties?
Pakistan's interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, who also heads the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), reportedly joined the previously mentioned conversation between Jaishankar and Dar.
Citing another source, the national daily said that Pakistan has suggested resuming bilateral cricketing ties as a means to "break the ice". Naqvi reportedly referred to Jaishankar's visit as an ice-breaker, even though neither side proposed a formal bilateral meeting. For its part, Pakistan is keen to host the Champions Trophy next year and hopes that India will participate.
However, citing sources, news agency ANI said that no discussions regarding the resumption of cricket ties took place during Jaishankar's visit to Islamabad.
Since the 2008 Asia Cup, India has not played any cricket tournaments in Pakistan.
What does Jaishankar's visit mean for resuming dialogue?
In Islamabad, Jaishankar on Wednesday said activities across borders characterised by the three evils of terrorism, extremism, and separatism were unlikely to encourage trade, energy flows, and connectivity.
While Jaishankar's comments were perceived as a thinly veiled message for Pakistan, Indian sources told The Times of India that the external affairs minister only addressed issues identified by the SCO as key challenges, which other member states also recognise.
Jaishankar reportedly had another extended conversation with Dar during the SCO lunch on Wednesday, where both sat next to each other. One source told the national daily that while the interaction "wasn't planned that way initially", they later "ended up sitting together and conversing over lunch in the presence of other delegates".
However, both India and Pakistan have denied that there were any proposals for resuming dialogue.
Will Modi, Sharif meet soon?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart, Shehbaz Sharif, are reportedly expected to meet at COP29 in Azerbaijan next month.
However, Indian officials indicated to the national daily that any substantive engagement between the two countries would require Pakistan to first reappoint its high commissioner.
What was the outcome of Jaishkanar's visit?
Jaishkanar reportedly signed eight outcome documents during the SCO meeting in Islamabad on Wednesday.
On X, Jaishankar noted eight key takeaways from the Indian perspective on the "positive and constructive contribution to the deliberations" made on the concluding day of the summit.
"Developing a dialogue on the idea of One Earth, One Family, One Future. Outcomes of India initiatives like SCO Startup Forum, Special Working Group (SWG) on Startups and Innovation and Traditional Medicine welcomed by SCO members. Digital public infrastructure (DPI) and Digital inclusion becoming part of SCO cooperation framework. SCO taking inspiration from Mission LiFE to achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs)," Jaishankar said.
Led by India, Mission LiFE is a global mass movement in taking action to protect and preserve the environment towards advancing the UNSDGs.
Jaishaknar also reaffirmed the need for fair and balanced connectivity projects, which comply with international law and align with the goals of both the UN and SCO Charters.
"Enhancing global food security and nutrition through promoting use of climate-resilient and nutritious grains such as millets. Upholding fair and balanced connectivity projects in accordance with international law, the goals and principles of the UN Charter and SCO Charter. Reemphasising rules-based, non-discriminatory, open, fair, inclusive and transparent multilateral trading system with WTO at its core. Opposing protectionist actions, unilateral sanctions, and trade restrictions that undermine the multilateral trading system and impede global sustainable development," he added.
On Wednesday, India also refused again to endorse China's 'One Belt One Road' initiative, becoming the only country in the SCO not to support the connectivity project.