The SCO summit is going to be held in Islamabad. This is a conference of the heads of state of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Apart from India and Pakistan, SCO also includes China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Before the summit to be held in Islamabad, there will be several rounds of meetings of senior officials, and a ministerial level meeting will also be held, the focus of which will be economic, socio-cultural and humanitarian cooperation among the member countries of the SCO.
Pakistan is the organiser of the SCO summit, and being the host, Pakistani PM Shahbaz Sharif has performed the ritual of sending an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his behalf – but the question is whether Prime Minister Modi will also accept the invitation, and will he go to Islamabad?
It is going to happen in October, and Pakistan has also invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar’s statement does not suggest that Modi will go to Pakistan – but a question arises whether Prime Minister Modi should not really go to Islamabad?
According to the news agency report, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zehra Baloch has said that invitations have been sent to the heads of member countries to participate in the SCO meeting to be held on October 15-16… and under the same, an invitation has also been sent to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi… Some countries have already confirmed their participation in the meeting, information about which will be given at the right time.
There is still about one and a half month left for the conference, and till then we will have to see what happens in the world. Every movement of the neighbouring countries matters to India. Whatever has happened in Bangladesh recently, India has also not remained unaffected by it. Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina has taken refuge in India after leaving the country.
Modi should never go to Islamabad, because-
1. Prime Minister Modi had invited the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif to his first swearing-in ceremony in 2014. He had even made a surprise visit to Lahore to congratulate Sharif on his birthday. All such initiatives were retaliated with terrorist incidents like Uri and Pulwama. The opposition criticised and ridiculed Modi for the way Pakistan stabbed India in the back. Will Prime Minister Modi go to Pakistan and risk a similar blow to his government’s image? Probably not, definitely not. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has even said that the era of talks with Pakistan is over.
2. After the Uri and Pulwama attacks, India carried out surgical strikes. But despite this, Pakistan has not yet shown any signs of improvement. The recent terrorist attacks in Jammu are proof of this. How can one maintain relations with a country so dedicated to terrorism?
3. After the abolition of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, no one is listening to Pakistan on that issue, so now it does not want elections to be held in the state. In such a situation, it is possible that when Modi goes there, some conspiracy can be hatched again under the guise of that visit. Keeping in mind the old antics of Pakistan, one has to be cautious.
4. There was a time when a big foreign head of state would visit India, he would definitely visit Pakistan. A balance was maintained in the relations between the two countries. In the last ten years, Modi has given the message to the whole world that India and Pakistan should not be seen together. It is not the compulsion of any country that if it maintains good relations with India, then it has to maintain relations with Pakistan in return.
5. India has marginalised Pakistan not only in cricket but also on many other fronts. Especially, Pakistan has been brought to its knees due to a business blow amid its economic crisis. When many Pakistani YouTubers take people’s opinion there, the same thing comes out that if relations with India were good, then such a situation would not have happened – if Prime Minister Narendra Modi decides not to visit Pakistan, then this pressure will continue.
Modi must go to Pakistan at any cost, because-
1. Last year’s virtual SCO summit was hosted by India, in which Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif also participated. Similarly, in the SCO Foreign Ministers’ Conference held in Goa in 2023, Bilawal Bhutto came as Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, and this was the first visit of any Pakistani Foreign Minister to India after 12 years.
In 2014 too, Modi had invited the heads of SAARC countries for his swearing-in ceremony as Prime Minister, and Nawaz Sharif from Pakistan had also come. In such a situation, along with inviting them, Shahbaz Sharif also has the right to host them, after all he is Nawaz Sharif’s brother. In such a situation, India must participate in this multilateral event. Even if Modi has to go there for this.
2. Assembly elections are going to be held in Jammu and Kashmir after ten years. These elections are being held for the first time after Article 370 was abolished in August 2019. A special demand of regional parties has been seen through their election manifesto.
Regional parties like National Conference and PDP should open the way for bilateral trade and movement between the two countries in addition to talks with Pakistan. The good thing is that on one hand elections are being held in Jammu and Kashmir, and on the other hand SCO conference is being held in Pakistan. Now if Prime Minister Modi plans to visit Pakistan, it will send a good message to the regional parties of Jammu and Kashmir.
It is clear that PM Modi’s visit to Islamabad will definitely have an impact. Whatever may happen or not, if he goes there, it will have a positive impact on those who have a soft corner for Pakistan and those who have such thinking in Jammu and Kashmir.
3. Just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited Russia and Ukraine, he can also go to Pakistan and send a message to China. The world is watching whatever China is doing against India in collaboration with Pakistan – and at the same time, the world is also watching what India is doing and thinking for the world.
Now if the world really understands that India is indeed a country of Buddha and not war, then Pakistan’s current actions at the instigation of China will have no meaning at the international level. It will simply be isolated.
4. Anyway, Prime Minister Modi should go to Pakistan once and tell them that now they should completely stop their activities because the world is not going to support those who promote terrorism.
5. Pakistan is a neighbouring country of India and is going through a bad situation right now. These days relations between India and Pakistan are maintained through back channels. In such a situation, it becomes necessary to understand that someday we have to start normalising relations. If not bilaterally, then at least on the pretext of this multilateral event, a new beginning can be made.
