Indian FM Jaishankar hails Pakistan’s ‘hospitality during SCO summit

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar  for the “hospitality and courtesies” during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

Jaishankar was the first foreign minister of the neighbouring nation to visit Pakistan in nearly a decade.

“Departing from Islamabad. Thank PM @CMShehbaz , DPM & FM @MIshaqDar50 and the Government of Pakistan for the hospitality and courtesies,” he wrote in his tweet.

In a major development, the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India, Ishaq Dar and Jayshankar, respectively, held an extraordinary meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held in Islamabad.

The meeting marked a rare instance of diplomatic engagement between the two nations.

The two foreign ministers sat together during lunch and engaged in conversations, according to private media channel Geo news.

This unusual arrangement was made at India’s request, with Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs altering the seating arrangements to accommodate the meeting.

The details of the discussion are yet to be disclosed.

Earlier in the day, Information minister Ata Tarar said that the first visit to Pakistan by a top Indian diplomat in nearly 10 years was an “ice breaker.”