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By Geeta Mohan: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers’ Meeting which was held in Goa witnessed the severest sparring between India and Pakistan in a long time. Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s visit to India for this multilateral came when India witnessed yet another terror attack in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, killing five Army personnel, a second major in a fortnight.
On April 20, five soldiers were killed when militants ambushed an Army truck in Tota Gali area of Bhatta Durian in Poonch district, which is adjacent to Rajouri.
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The cold welcome to the head of the Pakistani delegation was seen from the beginning of the official engagements on Friday. Jaishankar’s body language while receiving his counterparts for the ministerial meetings was a clear give away. He didn’t want to be seen shaking hands with the Pakistani foreign minister and therefore confined himself to a formal folded hands gesture of ‘Namaste’ for all visiting dignitaries.
Although on Thursday, when he hosted a dinner for the guests, the two ministers did shake hands and exchanged pleasantries according to sources. But, that was off-camera. The on-camera optics of shaking hands would not have gone down well in India when the country just witnessed two militant attacks in J&K.
While the SCO charter does not permit bilateral issues to be raised at the forum, the two sides made veiled attacks at each other in the room. Indian foreign minister Jaishankar stressed that there can be no justification for terrorism and it must be stopped in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism.
“When the world was fighting COVID, the menace of terrorism continued unabated. We firmly believe that there can be no justification for terrorism and it must be stopped in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border terrorism. Combating terrorism is one of the original mandates of SCO,” Jaishankar said in his opening remarks at the ministerial.
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Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, on his part said, “Terrorism continues to threaten global security. Let’s not get caught up in weaponising terrorism for diplomatic point scoring.”
Reminding the forum that he himself is a victim of terrorism, he said, “When I speak on this topic, I do so not only as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan whose people have suffered the most in terms of number of attacks and number of casualties. I also speak as the son whose mother was assassinated at the hands of terrorists. I feel the pain of this loss, empathize with victims across the world a way most can’t. I and my country are firmly committed to being part of regional and global efforts to eradicate this menace.”
Both sides slammed the other without naming the country. While Dr. Jaishankar raised the issue of terrorism emanating from Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari raked up the issue of Kashmir when he said, “Unilateral and illegal measures by states in violation of international law and Security Council resolutions run counter to the SCO objectives.”
He also added, “It is imperative that willful provocations and incitement to hate, especially on religious grounds, are roundly condemned. It is our collective duty to fight against fascism and historical revisionism that is leading to violent ultra nationalism anywhere in the world. We must ensure that racism and xenophobic ideologies have no place in today’s world and fundamental human rights and freedoms are guaranteed to all.”
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Minister Jaishankar urged the members of the group to crack down on non-state actors and terror funding. “We must not allow anybody — individual or State — to hide behind non-State actors,” he said.
The Indo-Pak sparring was not confined to that hall. Outside of the room, when the two leaders met the press, the fight got bitter. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in an exclusive conversation with India Today, hit out at India and Jaishankar responded in full measure. So much so that when the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson tried to stop the continued barrage of questions about Bilawal’s remarks, Jaishankar told him that it was okay and that he would respond to all the questions. A no-holds-barred tit-for-tat with no room for diplomacy and no need for interpreting diplomatic nuances.
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