INDIA’S decision to send External Affairs Minister Mr. S Jaishankar to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conclave scheduled in Pakistan mid-October is being watched keenly by the neighbour as well as members of the organisation. Mr. Jaishankar will be the first minister to visit Pakistan nine years after former External Affairs Minister late Ms Sushma Swaraj had attended a summit in the neighbouring country. The import of Mr. Jaishankar’s visit to the SCO conference is pretty huge. Pakistan is just a geographical location in the entire story, the focus will be on the seasoned diplomat who is not afraid of making mincemeat of the best in the business in their own backyard. Pakistan would be feeling the biggest discomfort of the Indian Foreign Minister’s presence at the SCO as it was Mr. Jaishankar who had roasted Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in the last edition held in Goa.

 

It was a bad move by Islamabad which boomeranged quite nastily on Pakistan as Mr. Jaishankar tore into Mr. Bhutto Zardari over his ill-advised remarks on Kashmir and Article 370. Mr. Jaishankar’s reminder to Mr. Bhutto Zardari in the presence of Pakistani media that the neighbour must “smell the coffee as Article 370 is history” must be ringing loudly in the land as it hosts the SCO conference. Pakistan had invited Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi for the SCO conclave and India took its sweet time to decide on the invitation before announcing Mr. Jaishankar’s presence in the October 15-16 summit. New Delhi has made a calculated decision by choosing Mr. Jaishankar as it would shift the entire pressure on Islamabad and the generals in Rawalpindi to not allow any opening for the champion diplomat to dismantle their bravado. The intellectual class in the country has already started issuing warnings to the Pakistan government to play it safe in the summit and stick to the agenda rather than using the platform to rake anti-India issues. It would be a huge mistake if Pakistan decides to go against the script as Mr. Jaishankar is known to shred into meek arguments with solid and searing responses.

 

The European nations, the United States and many other countries have gone through this embarrassment when they tried to question India on its choices during the Russia-Ukraine military conflict. Mr. Jaishankar was bold and cool enough to remind the European nations that they should stop viewing the world with their tinted glasses. “Europe’s problems cannot be the world’s problems, you need to understand this,” Mr. Jaishankar’s jab had demolished a long-standing bias against developing countries, especially the Asian nations. Mr. Jaishankar’s visit might start a new overture by Pakistan to normalise ties with India. Voices are growing in Pakistan to wake up to the reality and learn from India. Former Prime Minister Mr. Imran Khan was candidly praising India’s decisions for its own people in face of western pressures when Russia invaded Ukraine. Many others have echoed the sentiment though there is still no change in Pakistan’s behaviour. Pakistan would also be wary of Mr. Jaishankar’s speech in the light of Islamabad rolling out red carpet to radical preacher Zakir Naik who is wanted in India. The pressure is entirely on Pakistan as it hosts the summit and welcomes Mr. Jaishankar. India has played really well!