On Thursday, the much-anticipated Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers’ summit begins in Goa. Russian, Chinese, and Pakistani foreign ministers will be among those in attendance. The major gathering will take place on Friday. Thursday is set for bilateral discussions between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.However, it is unclear whether any exclusive interaction with Pakistan’s foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, will take place.
Bilawal’s is the first visit by a Pakistani foreign minister after a gap of 12 years. India will host a cultural event and a dinner on Thursday evening for its counterparts from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
During the course of the evening, Jaishankar will get to meet Bilawal in person. During the G-20 foreign ministers meeting on March 2, Jaishankar met his counterparts from China and Russia. India is likely to raise its concern about the Ladakh military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Disengagement of troops at remaining friction points in order to facilitate the normalisation of bilateral ties may also figure in talks.
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