The Road to Goa: “Very difficult to engage” with Pakistan, says Dr. Jaishankar
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Barely 10 days ahead of the Goa conclave of foreign ministers of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar took a dig at Pakistan, saying it is “very difficult to engage” with a neighbor which practices cross-border terrorism against India.
The SCO’s Council of Foreign Ministers (SCO-CFM) is meeting at Goa on May 4 and 5, which Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will also attend.
Last week, Bilawal ruled out any bilateral talks with India during his Goa visit.
For years, India also insisted that terrorism and talks cannot go together.
With the EAM’s remarks, the agenda at Goa has almost been set: it would be strictly business as usual for the SCO, with little possibility for a bilateral interaction between India and Pakistan.
Dr. Jaishankar’s remarks came during a joint press briefing with the Foreign Minister of Panama, Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, in Panama City. The EAM is on a two-day official visit to Panama and two other Latin American nations, the media reported on Tuesday.
The EAM said, “The bottom line on this issue is it is for us very difficult to engage with a neighbor who practices cross-border terrorism against us. We’ve always said that they have to deliver on the commitment not to encourage, sponsor, and carry out cross-border terrorism. We continue to hope that one day we would reach that stage.”
Dr. Jaishankar arrived in Panama City on Monday and was received by Panama’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Vladimir Francos.
Taking to his official Twitter handle, the EAM stated, “Arrived in Panama City. Thanks, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs @VladimirFrancos for the warm reception. Look forward to a packed bilateral and multilateral agenda.”
He will also attend the India-Latin America Business event and deliver a keynote address highlighting ten important reasons why the India-Panama business collaboration has strong prospects and merits-focused endeavors.
After Panama, the EAM will visit Colombia to meet representatives of the government, business, and civil society. His Colombia tour would be the first Foreign Ministerial level visit to the country, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a release.
Dr. Jaishankar and his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Leyva Duran will review the bilateral ties.
Then the EAM will head to the Dominican Republic in what is the highest-level visit from India since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1999. India opened its resident Embassy in Santo Domingo in 2022.
