Goa visit of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari gets linked to Chaos of Pakistan's domestic politics

New Delhi

Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has come under attack for his

Goa visi to attend the SCO Foreign Ministers' Conference.

Imran Khan-led PTI’s Shireen Mazari said the “imported” foreign minister (Bilawal) was desperate to go to Goa to “show his loyalty to the Bajwa plan of appeasing the United States on Israel and India”.

“Despite insults by India on refusal to arrange bilateral meetings, he’s desperate to go!” she said.

Bilawal Zardari’s trip is the first visit to India by a foreign minister of Pakistan since July 2011, when then-foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited for peace talks.

However, another PTI leader and Bilawal’s predecessor Shah Mahmood Qureshi stated that the SCO was an important forum which Pakistan should make use of.

“Pakistan is a member of the SCO and the SCO is an important forum. If we want Eurasian political, economic and security integration then this is an important forum.” He said Pakistan should make use of the forum in order to improve the region. “So if he (Bilawal) has gone for a multilateral forum, in my eyes there is no harm".

'Organiser Link'

But another key leader, Fawad Chaudhry, “strongly” condemned Bilawal’s visit.

“Participation would have been possible on video but [the] problem is you people in love of Modi are ready....,"

he remarked.

It may be mentioned that Bilawal for his part has said, "My decision to attend this meeting illustrates 

Pakistan’s strong commitment to the charter of SCO".

The Indian government and the Ministry of External Affairs apparently did not show any interest in any bilateral meeting with Bilawal.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also said that Islamabad's decision to attend the SCO meet reflected the country’s commitment to the organisation’s charter and multilateralism.

“We are committed to playing our part to advance our shared values of peace and stability in the region. We are all for win-win understandings based on connectivity, trade and mutually advantageous cooperation,” he said.

Pakistan is in political turmoil and also facing an immense economic crisis. For some time it has been realising the importance of improving trade and general ties with India.

At last week's SCO Defence Ministers' meeting which was represented by a Pakistani government representative over video; Mr Rajnath Singh did plain speaking and called for concerted efforts  in unity to fight the menace of global terrorism.

“If a nation shelters terrorists, it not only poses a threat to others, but for itself too,” Rajnath Singh could not 

have been more emphatic. The Minister also said, adding that radicalisation of youth is a cause for concern 

not only from the point of view of security, but it is also a major obstacle in the path of socio-economic progress 

of society.

Bilawal Zardari himself has recently admitted that Pakistan is facing "an uphill task" in getting the Kashmir issue 

onto the agenda of the United Nations. India also made it clear that the Article 370 in the Indian Constitution, 

or its abrogation, are all its sovereign internal matters.

When asked if there will be a separate bilateral meeting between Dr S Jaishankar and Bilawal;

the Indian had stated that it was very difficult for us to engage with a neighbour who practices cross-border 

terrorism. 

Meanwhile, the United States also called on Pakistan to move ahead on stalled reforms sought by the 

International Monetary Fund (IMF), promising technical help as the world's fifth most populous nation 

weathers an economic crisis.

Pakistan signed a $6.5 billion bailout package with the International Monetary Fund in 2019.

Elizabeth Horst, the State Department official in charge of Pakistan said the reforms that Pakistan and the 

IMF agreed to are not easy, but it's crucial that Pakistan take these actions to bring the country back to sound financial footing.

ends