The two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) Foreign Ministers' meeting will begin in Goa on Thursday and will see the participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Pakistan's Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari among others.
While External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to hold separate bilateral talks with Qin and Lavrov at a beach resort in Goa, there is so far no scheduled meeting with Jaishankar and Bhutto-Zardari. However, people familiar with preparations for the conclave did not rule out a meeting between them.
Jaishankar, who arrived in Goa on Wednesday to take stock of the preparations, will also hold a meeting with Uzbekistan's Foreign Minister.
Bhutto-Zardari's trip to India will be the first visit from Islamabad since 2011. The then-Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited India that year. Khar is currently serving as the minister of state for foreign affairs.
While confirming his participation, Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesperson clarified that Bhutto-Zardari's participation "reflected Pakistan’s continued commitment to the SCO charter."
While Jaishankar's meeting with Qin is significant in the backdrop of the border dispute between the two countries, the EAM is expected to convey that India-China ties cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
Jaishankar and Russian foreign minister Lavrov in their meeting are set to review the overall bilateral ties with a focus on trade and commercial engagement. India has been pressing Russia to urgently address the trade imbalance that has been in favour of Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reaches Goa ahead of SCO foreign ministers' meeting | ANI
India's trade deficit with Russia jumped significantly in the last few months after it procured significant volumes of discounted crude oil from that country in the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis.
The people cited above said Lavrov will arrive in India as scheduled notwithstanding the escalation in tension between Russia and Ukraine. Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine of attacking the Kremlin with drones overnight in an unsuccessful attempt to kill President Vladimir Putin.
The talks between Jaishankar and Lavrov are also set to cover a number of issues relating to bilateral ties and regional situations, they said.
(With inputs from PTI)
