ISLAMABAD: United States scholar Michael Kugelman believes Pakistan “accomplished” what it wanted to achieve during Foreign Minister of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s visit to Goa where he attended a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO).
The top Pakistani diplomat stole all the limelight as all the Indian press was focused on FM Bilawal.
In his official address, Bilawal responded to his Indian counterpart’s old diatribe of cross-border terrorism, telling him not to “weaponise chaos for diplomatic point scoring” and urged collaboration among the SCO member states.
Tweeting about the engagements in Goa, South Asia Institute Director at the Washington-based
The Wilson Centre, Kugelman said in a tweet: “There was much criticism of the Pakistan foreign minister visit to India for SCO meeting, but he appeared to have achieved what Islamabad sought: Participation in the SCO’s deliberations, and separate sideline meetings with all SCO members except India. Multilateral engagement on the side.:
There was much criticism of the Pakistan FM's visit to India for SCO, but he appears to have accomplished what Islamabad sought: Participation in the SCO deliberations, and separate sideline meetings with all SCO members except India. Multilateral engagement w/bilats on the side.
— Michael Kugelman (@MichaelKugelman) May 5, 2023
‘Pakistan delegation did its job’
Ex-foreign secretary Salman Bashir believes that Bilawal’s decision to particiupate in the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers summit was correct.
He said: “I think we made our point of being present at the significant SCO event. The Pakistan representative did its job and should be returning satisfied.”
Ex-ambassador Javid Husain, who served in China in the 1980s, explained: “FM Bilawal’s visit to Goa primarily aimed to attend the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting, it enabled him to put across Pakistan’s point of view on problems of security, development, regional connectivity, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, climate change, Afghanistan, Kashmir and terrorism during the conference deliberations, media comments and meetings.”
Husain added that the foreign minister’s visit “highlighted the high significant attached by Pakistan to the SCO”.
Mosharraf Zaidi, a political analyst, said: “It was an excellent visit. It helped prompt the tirade by the Indian foreign minister — exposing India’s inability to increase to the occasion and engage with multilateral fora at the level expected of regional power.”
In a tweet, ex-diplomat Abdul Basit, Pakistan’s former high commissioner to India, commented that he was impressed by Bilawal’s interview with Indian journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.
The ex-envoy added that the Bilawal “was particularly superb on Kashmir”.
Overall FM Zardari was impressive in his interview on India Today. He was particularly superb on Kashmir. Glad he also raised Kulbhushan Jhadav and Samjhota Express blast. The way Jaishankar reacted in his press conference only reflected his hubris and frustration
— Abdul Basit (@abasitpak1) May 5, 2023
Bast said, “Glad he raised [the issues of] Kulbhushan Jhadav (India spy currently in Pakistan’s custody) and the Samjhota Express explosion. The way Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar reacted in his press conference reflected his hubris and frustration,”
