Indian FM rules out bilateral talks at SCO summit in Pakistan

Mumbai (Reuters): India's foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will not discuss bilateral relations when he visits Pakistan this month, the first such visit in nearly a decade, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

"I expect there would be a lot of media interest because of the very nature of the relationship," Jaishankar said in response to a query at an event in New Delhi.

"But I do want to say it will be for a multilateral event. I am not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations," he added.

On Friday, the Indian foreign ministry confirmed that Jaishankar will visit Pakistan to participate in the summit on Oct 15-16 but did not say if he would meet any Pakistani leaders on the sidelines.

Relations between the two countries have gone through periods of thaw from time to time but have been largely frozen since they downgraded diplomatic ties in tit-for-tat moves in 2019.

Earlier this year, Jaishankar said that India would want to "find a solution to the issue of years-old cross-border terrorism" but added that it cannot be the "policy of a good neighbour".

"I am going there to be a good member of the SCO but since I am a courteous and civil person, I will behave myself accordingly," he said.