Pakistan successfully hosted the 23rd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Council of Heads of Government (SCO-CHG) in Islamabad on 15-16 October 2024. The meeting was attended by the Prime Ministers of China, Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus, as well as the first Vice President of Iran and the External Affairs Minister (EAM) of India. The meeting concluded with the signing of 8 key documents focusing on SCO’s working, regional connectivity, and counter-terrorism efforts.
The catchiest development that attracted policy analysts in South Asia was the participation of EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar. This was the first visit of an Indian External Affairs Minister to Pakistan in almost a decade. In 2015, he had accompanied the then EAM Shusma Swaraj, as Foreign Secretary, to attend a conference on Afghanistan.[1] Contrary to the previous SCO meeting in Goa last year, where Dr. Jaishankar and then Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, had exchanged harsh statements, with no handshakes, in the latest meeting, Jaishankar had a brief exchange of pleasantries and a handshake with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Media sources also reported about a brief exchange between Dr. Jaishankar and Deputy PM of Pakistan Ishaq Dar, at the dinner hosted by PM Sharif.[2]
