Jaishankar, Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhutto shook hands at Goa SCO dinner: Sources

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari shook hands and exchanged greetings.

At the dinner hosted by India’s foreign minister on Thursday evening to mark the beginning of the two-day conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, sources told India Today TV.

Bilawal Bhutto landed in Goa this afternoon to take part in the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting, the main deliberations of which is scheduled for tomorrow. This is the first visit by a Pakistani foreign minister to India since Hina Rabbani Khar met the former External Affairs Minister of India, SM Krishna, in 2011. Khar is currently serving as Pakistan’s minister of state for foreign affairs.

This is also the first high-level visit from Pakistan after its foreign affairs advisor, Sartaj Aziz, visited India in December 2016.

Before boarding a flight to India, the Pakistan minister in a video message said: “On my way to Goa, India. Will be leading the Pakistani delegation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization CFM. My decision to attend this meeting illustrates Pakistan’s strong commitment to the charter of SCO.”

Emphasising that his visit is focussed on the SCO, Bilawal Bhutto said he is looking forward to constructive discussions with “my counterparts from friendly countries”.

The gala hosted by S Jaishankar at the sea-side Taj Exotica Resort in Benaulim was attended by Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Russia’s Sergey Lavrov and Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Uzbekistan’s Bakhtiyor Saidov and SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming. The foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan also attended.